Goh Forth and Conquer
by StarvingLunatic
Summary: AU. Shego is a warrior queen on a conquering spree. To hold her off, Governor Steve Barkin has to pay her tribute, but he doesn't have enough gold. What can he do to avoid being conquered? Give up his daughter, of course. SheBon. Some KimRon and BetViv.
1. They came from the East

I don't own these characters.

A/N: this AU takes places in a fantasy world that is just an amalgamation of ancient civilizations and barbarian cultures. I'll give you guys the inspiration for things, if you wanna know. The rating for this is going to go up in later chapters. This is pretty much a prologue. This is it, folks, my first attempt at SheBon (you know, just them by themselves).

Goh Forth and Conquer

1: They came from the East

They rose like demons out of the deepest, darkest, hottest levels of Hell, led on by the daughter of the God of Death. They were the Gohs, the Empire of the East. Shego was one of their rulers. She was the only queen amongst the five monarchs, but she was easily the most feared. She was the one that followed in their father's menacing footsteps. She was the conqueror and she was coming for lands in the West, just as her father had done to build the empire that he had graciously left to his children upon his death. And she, along with her army, was coming closer to his city according to a scout.

The governor of Middleton, Steve Barkin, had just received the worst news anyone in his position could get. The Gohs were marching toward his city, flying a green flag; the color was now synonymous with doom. It was terrible news for the entire western half of the continent, but he was the first in the path of the daughter of Death. Damnation, he thought with dread, even though he would openly insist with great force that he was not worried about the approaching army.

Governor Barkin wished that he could send word to his allies for assistance, but he knew that they would never make it in time, if they even came at all. No one was in a hurry to battle against the fierce war machine that was the Gohs. What started out as a small, barbarian tribe at the edge of the world had grown into a ferocious force of four kingdoms that made up a terrifying empire and the worst of them all was coming close.

A hundred years ago, no one in the West knew who or what the Gohs were, but little by little they began to hear horrifying tales of barbarians on horse back that struck with the speed of lightning, looting, plundering, and conquering every piece of land that they treaded upon. They devoured tribes and cities like wild dogs, but it was not until recently that they truly became a single empire, only to be split up again upon the death of their first true emperor, Kane.

Kane Goh was known as the Golden Emperor to his friends and the God of Death to his foes. His grandfather had been the one that gathered the Goh tribes together based solely on his will and charm as a leader. He led the tribes as a collective group into pillaging nearby towns at the very edge of the East. Kane's father was the one that started to go west and then came Kane, who was thought to be the worst of them all by some, especially those outside of the Goh nation.

There had been a tale going around that Kane was actually the son of a sky god. There were many different stories surrounding his linage, which would also be true of his children. There was one story going that his mother had been struck by lightning and was impregnated with him through that. Another claimed that he was born of the earth when the ground was hit by a lightning bolt and that the leader of the Gohs simply found him in the night, adopting him as a son. The main legend surrounding his birth was that Kane dropped out of the sun into his father's arms, covered in the sun's radiance, shining a bright yellow and blinding those that looked upon him until his father soothed him by claiming the child as kin.

Whatever the manner of his birth, Kane was born and the lands west of the Gohs were cursed with his presence. Even when his father was still alive, the barbarian prince could not sit still in his father's kingdom. He had to go out and battle, coming into areas like a plague and taking everything like the demon that he was. He conquered city and country all in the name of his father and tribe, never stopping to rule anything on his own. His one desire in life only seemed to be fighting, battle, the spilling of blood to build on what his forefathers had started.

Kane gained victory after victory, pulling off all kinds of miraculous feats that only fed the rumor that he was really the son a god. Kane, himself, never professed to be anything more or less than his father's son. He claimed his father/King with great pride, seeming to need nothing more in the world than to be his father's son. He did everything in the older man's name, going so far as to giving his father the honor of all of his wins, even though the King never rode with him into battle. It was perplexing to many who viewed Kane as the embodiment of evil that he never attempted to take the kingdom from his father as the young warrior turned the small kingdom into an empire. Instead, while his father lived, Kane only marched westward until he doubled the size of his father's land. It was about that time that he met his match, someone that dared to challenge his perfect battle record.

Kane marched to the north, not even three years into being a man, and met his first real obstacle in life. He had gone up north, searching for wood and hunting grounds for food, but got much more than he bargained for. Surprisingly enough, for those who were not aware of the peoples in that area anyway, Kane's challenge came in the form of a woman. She challenged him, not only in the way a man would expect a woman to do, as a road block in his path to greatness. But, she also challenged him as a man would expect another man to do, by being a barrier to his glory. She stood before him like a valiant warrior, ready to fight him to the death to prevent him from taking over her lands.

The woman was Isabel and she was merely the daughter of some hill chieftain who could not even control his wife. There was talk that Isabel was like Kane, though. That she was the daughter of a god, which could explain her ability to oppose the God of Death as she did. Supposedly, Isabel's mother had given birth to her after mating with a volcano god and had only carried Isabel for three months before she burst from her mother's womb already a toddler and ready for war.

To her people, Isabel's speedy growth within her mother explained why she was seen as a wise woman at the mere age of sixteen; it seemed that she matured faster mentally than she did physically now that she was in the world. There was also the rumor that her mother was a demon, which explained why she was feared by all at that age too. Most people believed that Isabel inherited her mother's demonic abilities and even though she was a friendly young woman, there was that underlying fear that a demonic nature lurked in the depths of her soul. She did seem to pull out her dark powers when Kane showed up to take over her village.

The story went that Isabel met Kane on his horse not too far from her village. Isabel faced the God of Death, looking him in his fierce purple eyes when he rode his army near her village. It was said that when he locked gazes with her, amethyst versus emerald, the God of Death flinched. The legend held that Kane was the only one that looked away, while actually gulping, in front of all of his men. The soldiers, listening to the locals, believed that Isabel had bewitched their great General/Prince. It was the only way to explain how a woman could strike fear into the heart of a man that was fearless.

Kane hesitated in his attack on the village, wanting to negotiate instead of doing battle. It was the first time that he asked questions before charging in. In fact, he did not even get to charge in. He only wanted to negotiate; well, there were terms that he desired in that, of course. Before such talks though, he needed to know who Isabel was and what that look in her jade eyes meant. Many people had told him that the look in her eyes was the direct path to Hell. He could believe it, but no one did inform him as to whom she was. It seemed like they did not want to speak her name to an outsider.

It was only when the prince went to speak to the Chieftain about forming an alliance did he learn who Isabel was. He entered the hut of the chief, but found that he would not be speaking to him. He would instead be speaking with the chief's wife and his first question had been in regards to Isabel. The Chieftain's wife had chuckled, sending a chill down the God of Death's spine because of the murky sound of her voice. She looked at him with piercing jade eyes that were worse than the look he received from Isabel when he had first met her. He did not flinch that time, though, unknowingly impressing her. It was then that she revealed that Isabel was her daughter.

She had called Isabel "the offspring of my flesh and the fire of the underworld." She took pride in telling the so-called God of Death that her daughter was the true bringer of destruction and doom. Kane suddenly found himself challenged by Isabel's mother just as much as he had been by her, but he did not yield to the mother. It seemed that he had flinched enough for one lifetime.

Having regained his backbone and fiery aura, an actual yellow shine seeming to build around him, Kane spoke to a woman that was allegedly a demon with a tone that she had never heard before. He sounded beyond strong, like mountains would crumble at his mere presence. He sounded as if he was completely in charge of what was going on. She was intrigued, but sour at the same time. Kane did not care about her attitude and continued on being himself while talking with her.

No one knew what kind of discussions went on in the hut, but by the end of the time Kane had emerged a betrothed man to Isabel, who did not take kindly to the arrangement. Kane immediately learned that he was to marry a viper in the form of a woman, which only seemed to make him want her all the more. She was an interesting woman; many of his men believed that she was actually a witch in the form of a woman, especially from the way that she acted. The soldiers were also suspicious of the way their prince had fallen for her.

Isabel had actually tried to do away with her new husband on their wedding night, attacking him as soon as they were left alone. But little did she know that her insolence only made Kane want her all the more. The night had been filled with screams and not the ones anyone in the camp expected. Kane and Isabel actually ended up having a fight rather than consummating their marriage, a serious, injury-incurring battle. It took them months before they pulled off that miracle of miracles, sharing a bed.

Kane's marriage to Isabel was allegedly the only thing that the prince ever did to upset his father. How dare the Crown Prince of the Goh kingdom marry the lowly daughter of a northern barbarian, after all? His father had unwisely expressed such an opinion in front of his new bride and dared to suggest that he take other wives in front of her, not knowing that by that time Isabel had fallen for Kane just as much as he did for her. It was at that time that his father learned why Isabel would be his one and only queen. Kane had to talk her out of her trying to get him to the throne earlier than intended thanks to his father's words.

With Kane and Isabel's union, it was like the Devil and Hell had united. Kane went on a conquering spree with his men that the world had never seen along with his bewitching woman who always remained faithful, killing as many men as he would. She rode her horse as if she was mentally linked with the beast and stunned their enemies with one glare of her sharp, burning emerald eyes. Everyone that they crushed was not sure who scared them more, Kane or Isabel. The couple did not care as long as lands, people, and soon an entire empire bowed to them.

The couple marched to the edge of one of the world's largest empires and walked in as if they owned it, as if they knew it would belong to them before the year was out. Kane worked like a typhoon when he went into conquer new territory, but it was Isabel that insured the land was truly theirs. Kane's pleasure entailed capturing worlds, marching into them, battling, and then moving on to do that all that once more. Isabel was the one that stopped him to explain a lesson that her mother had taught her, which was that people had to be made to serve a ruler. Kane might have taken the lands, but Isabel held onto the people. She did something that never would have occurred to her mother to do; Isabel shared her knowledge and power with Kane, who in turn, shared his tactics and command with her. The entire world trembled at the mentioning of their names now.

Under Kane and Isabel's leadership, the Goh army was unstoppable. There was no wall that could stop them, no body of water, no army, no anything. They just continued to come, taking whatever was in their path if it was not offered to them. Most small towns and villages offered, happily coming into the Goh kingdom for the protection it offered and the opportunities that were starting to be presented to citizens of the kingdom. There were new trade options to be had as citizens of the Goh kingdom, as well as new luxuries. It never seemed like a bad deal, even though the tribute to be paid to the king was staggering.

By the time that Kane became king, it was fair to call himself the emperor, which he did with no shame. As usual, he shared his glory with his woman equally, calling Isabel his empress and ordering everyone to obey her as they would him. He took the term "better half" very seriously when it came to Isabel and his subjects made sure to treat her as such, knowing that not only would the emperor punish them if they mistreated her, but whatever Isabel did to them would be perfectly legal too, as the word of the rulers was the word of the land. No one was crazy enough to challenge such a law considering they were almost certain that their emperor and empress were truly the progeny of gods.

Kane was an addict for conquest, though. He was not able to stay in his capital city to rule whenever the weather was fair for war. He left Isabel behind to reign over their affairs of state while he went off in the spring and summer to add to their lands. Isabel did not complain, merely reminding him that he needed to make sure whatever he gained was under their hold and not just bowing to him while he was around. With her words on his mind, he marched, glowing with the aegis of the sun around him. And, seemingly by the divine adoration, Kane always returned to Isabel with more for her to administer to as his gifts. She eventually had gifts for him, children.

For the first few years of their marriage, there had been whispers around that the God of Death had married a barren daughter of Hades. Kane never questioned it, but his bride sometimes could not help wondering if the whispers had a point. After all, she had not conceived years into their marriage, no matter how often they laid together; and they did do a lot of that. She once even returned to her mother, whom she had been avoiding ever since the woman had given her to Kane for unknown reasons, and her mother read bones for her. She was promised extraordinary children and that settled her nerves, even though it still took years before her to become pregnant. Before that, she had to be irked by hushed rumors that she had bewitched Kane and her spell prevented him from seeing any truth about her.

When the empress finally bore her husband children, it actually did not quiet the rumors; it only bred new stories. When she gave birth to their first son, the nurses looked at the boy, whom Kane dubbed Hego, which was Kane's grandfather's name; the boy's blue hair and eyes reminded him of his grandfather. His strong body and will later on would tell Kane that he had given his son the right name. The women whispered amongst themselves whenever Isabel was not around, saying that the boy looked nothing like their divine emperor. It angered Isabel, but before dealing with the nurses, she needed to know that Kane did not believe such nonsense.

Kane was all smiles and grins over the birth of their son. Isabel almost shied away from asking him if he believed Hego to truly be his child, but she needed to know. When she approached the subject, Kane only grinned wider and said that he had no doubt that Hego was his son. The son of Goh and destined to be a great man, Kane had bragged quite happily while the baby crushed his fingers with an intense grip. She was not sure why he was so certain, but his glee only made her feel the same way. Two demons had reproduced once, but they were not done.

After Hego, Isabel gave Kane a daughter two years later. Isabel found herself having something in common with her mother despite how creepy she always thought her mother to be. She utterly adored her daughter from the moment that she saw the child, who had come out with oddly pale green skin. Kane surprised his wife by loving their daughter with the same vigor as he loved their son. It seemed that Kane had no favorites, just loving the idea of being a father.

Isabel allowed Kane to name their daughter upon seeing how happy he was to have one. He dubbed her "Shego," which Isabel had been against at first. She thought that Kane was putting their daughter into the shadow of their son with such a name, but he quickly and easily explained that he was doing no such thing. He had to explain the culture of the Goh tribe to her for her to understand that "Shego" was an independent name of its own. It was actually the name of a fire goddess that the Gohs believed gave birth to their first leader and he thought that it went with their daughter's fiery spirit, which he claimed he could seem when she was only a few hours old. Only after that explanation did Isabel accept that as their daughter's name.

Three sons followed Shego, all of whom Kane loved just as much as their first two children. The energy that Kane showed toward their children was equal only to the energy that he put forth on the battlefield. Other than warfare and his family, Kane was actually a sluggish fellow who was often late to administrative meetings if he ever bothered to show up at all. By then, it was the opinion of most of the court that if Isabel was never around, the empire would have fallen apart on Kane's watch and the scary thing was that no one was honestly certain if he would have even cared.

The children of those demons were of course seen as demons themselves by the outside world while the Goh citizens thought that the children were just as divine as their parents. The children showed to have inherited many things from their great parents, but the most noticeable were their skin tones. It had always been noticed that Kane's skin had an odd yellow glow to it, like the halo that accompanied him whenever he charged into battle at the speed of light. His children had similar features, but most notably was his daughter Shego and her green tone, which was also matched with the paleness of her mother's skin. And then there was his son Mego, who had a mauve complexion to him. Their tones only made them seem more god-like because it was something so distinguishing.

Kane did not look at his children's complexions as anything more than proof that they were of his blood. His skin did have yellow undertone to it; it was not as noticeable as Shego's and Mego's coloring. He had been told stories by his father and other elders that his uniqueness ran in their family, going all the way back to some of their first Goh ancestors. Kane just hoped that the children inherited more than just the strange skin tones.

Kane celebrated his children's hues and made them all the colors of royalty. He would even conquer lands under their colors and in their names. As one might imagine, it was devastating to his family and country when the God of Death actually died. Isabel had been the most troubled by it, collapsing into tears for the first time in her life when she heard of his passing. She seemed utterly inconsolable when she was given the news that her great husband had died quietly, resting by a river. He had gone peacefully, smiling, but in such a way that was not fitting for a man that had conquered almost half of the known world.

Isabel thought that Kane probably went in a way that he would have liked. After all, he did not believe it was possible for him to die in battle and she was of like mind on that thought. He was a man that could not be touched in war, so it was likely that he would never die on the battlefield, but there was something anticlimactic to him dying by a calm river, smiling to himself, having escaped going to a budget meeting of all things. It was just like him.

Kane had been in his prime upon his death at the age of thirty-eight. He had plans to continue marching until the entire world was called Goh; he used to tell that to his wife and children. The world might have sighed in relief upon his death if only his most fierce child had not taken up his cause. In honor of her father, Shego decided that she would go west and Isabel did not stop her. Isabel believed that it would be hard to stop the child that was so much like her father. All she could do was instill the teachings that she had into Shego to make sure that she was not too much like Kane.

Shego truly was a totally different creature compared to Kane, but was almost exactly the same to anyone that had the privilege of serving both father and daughter. Shego did not take all of her father's army because upon his death the army was divided, as was the Empire. It was still one empire called Goh, but there were provinces in it now, split into four. Shego and Hego were given the provinces furthest west because they were the strongest of the siblings and were trusted by their mother to keep those lands in check on their own. Mego was given territory in the middle where turmoil was possible, but he could easily call upon any of his siblings should he need help and being a mere thirteen when he was granted that land, it was certain that he might require aid. The youngest, the twins, who seemed to think they were one person just given the chance to be in two place at once, had the oldest land of the Goh empire, where the subjects were least likely to rebel because they had not been conquered in their minds. Isabel continued to act as empress over all of the land, but remained with her youngest sons also to act as regent for them until they were older. Mego remained close to Isabel too for a time and she held his lands together for him until he felt prepared to do it on his own.

Hego and Shego were the most independent of the children, jumping at the chance to rule their own provinces. The split was done as a test, or so they assumed, and a way to manage a vast empire better than it could have been done from one capital city as Isabel and Kane had been doing. The children were all aware that when Isabel died, she was going to pick one of them as ruler of the whole land, so they had to prove themselves by reigning over their provinces. Hego liked to think that he was doing the best job of it.

Hego had opted to settle in his lands and called himself "king." He had taken much of their father's army with him to his lands in the north. He was not one for campaigning and ran a peaceful plot of land for the most part, thanks to the presence of the army. His siblings were not likely to follow in that line.

Shego wanted more than what her mother had given her when their father died. She wanted the West. She would take it just like her father took the East and that was her goal. She barely had any men from her father's army, giving most of what was left after Hego took them to her brothers, proclaiming that she would raise her own military like her father did. Isabel only wished her luck, which had insulted her, as Isabel knew it would. Shego did not believe in luck because her father never believed in such foolishness. She would triumph like her father did and then she would surpass her father. So far, she had proven to be quite like him and quite like her mother too. To her enemies, she was the amalgam of the two demon rulers. She was the God of Hell and she was marching towards Middleton now.

At the start of her campaign, Shego had been rather experienced in battle, having gone out with her father once. She had been brought up as a warrior like her brothers and like her father. She was a trained horseman, archer, swordsman, and even an engineer because her parents had raised her to never ask her soldiers to do something that she could not or would not do. She was to always lead at the front, as they did.

The pale green teen at the time had had no problem gathering small volunteers for her march from the Goh Empire. Land, riches, and adventure seemed to be in Goh blood and they flocked to her for all of that. She did not steer them wrong. There was enough for all of them to go around and in less than ten years Shego almost tripled the size of her province. It would have been more if she did not allow her brother Mego to ride with her when he was old enough.

It was said that when Shego rode near a city, the flames of Hell could be seen behind her, just as people used to say about her father. Kane's flames were said to be the color of the sun while Shego's fire called up something more fearsome, green flames like an unholy specter rode with her; supposedly it was her father's spirit with her. Such thoughts caused many cities to fall in tribute to her because it was one thing to incur the wrath of Shego, but to possibly incur her wrath as well as her father's was too much for many to bear.

The East was now knocking on the West's door with Shego on the prowl. The West hoped that the water that divided the lands would stop her, as they hoped it would stop her father when they learned of his ambition. The West had been thankful for Kane's death, hoping that they would be spared being devoured. But, Shego was just as hungry as her father. She seemed to be just as unstoppable because the large river that separated her new territories from the city of Middleton seemed to be mean nothing if the reports were accurate and she was on her way.

When the Gohs emerged from the hills, they were in plain view of Steve Barkin and any other person that could get high enough in Middleton to see. The sun rose behind the army, lighting them on fire in a bright orange, and their leader in front of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. She was clad in green and black, her colors as royalty and in memory of her father. She eyed Middleton with a look of lust and desire.

"Tonight, you shall be mine!" Shego announced and her army roared loud enough for her mother to hear it back in the corner of the east it would seem. She smirked, looking very much like the demon her enemies believed her to be.

* * *

Next time: The story really begins. Is there someway for Barkin to save his city-state?

A/N: The introduction of the Goh Empire was inspired by the Mongol Empire, which was the largest continuous land-based empire in history (last time I checked anyway). It was five times the size of Alexander the Great's empire and twice the size of the Roman Empire. There's more to it than that, but I guess other bits can wait for other chapters…if you guys even want the explanations anyway.

Kane's behavior toward conquering was inspired by Alexander the Great, who marched east from Greece to the edge of India and really seemed to be more interested in taking lands than administering to them.


	2. Creeping suspicion

I don't own these characters.

A/N: I would like to thank Etherelemental for an idea that happens in this chapter and carries through out the story that I don't want to spoil for you. Also, you guys might notice that the dialogue is fairly modern despite the fact that this is supposed to be like an ancient world, but that just comes with this being an AU and a fantasy world.

2: Creeping suspicion

The governor of Middleton, Steve Barkin, was in for some trouble. The vicious Goh army, lead by the queen of the largest Goh province, was standing right outside his city walls. There was a sea of armed soldiers standing on the plain, grassy land outside of the city; the land was narrow, but long enough to hold all of the men. It was caught between the deep woods grown from nearby a large river and the city of Middleton. Barkin could only hope that the thick city wall held if those warriors moved in. All it would take was one motion from their leader and the soldiers would storm the wall like angry hornets.

The queen, Shego was standing in front of all of the troops, in plain view of everyone. She was in her battle armor, a black leather chest plate that was covered an emerald green shirt. There was a green cape behind her, blowing slightly in a small breeze and almost touching the ground and mingling with the plants that it shared a color with. Her feet were protected from the dirt by black slippers.

She was standing by a monster-size, strong-looking bull instead of being mounted on her magnificent black horse. She seemed to have total control over the beast, as it stood still and allowed her to caress its massive shoulders whenever desire overcame her. The bull either did not know its fate or was completely accepting of it.

Barkin knew what it signified for Shego to have the bull, which explained why he was eyeing that scene extremely hard. Once she sacrificed that bull, she would be taking his city by force. Luckily, she had decided to negotiate first. He just had to wait for her messenger to arrive.

The Governor was trying his best to appear calm and collected for when the messenger showed up. He had not been informed that anyone had seen a horse coming toward the city from the Goh camp. No one had even been seen walking from the camp. There was the usual movement going on inside of the settlement and Shego was still at the forefront of the madness, caressing her sacrificial bull as if it was beloved pet. So, the Governor was getting more anxious with every second that passed and no messenger was before him.

He began to pace the space that he was standing in; his face was tense and his shoulders were stiff. The tiles of a mosaic clacked as his sandals impacted the floor; the scene was a man on a horse charging into battle and it looked like the horse was stomping on the enemy. Barkin nearly walked into one of the many white columns around the place, but he only grazed his shoulder against the stone. His nervous was starting to take over and he cracked his knuckles as he walked through out the open area. He left the room as his stomach began to flip because he was not hearing any news about a messenger coming from the Goh camp. He went into another room, deeper into the manor, and continued his anxious movement.

The brawly official was beginning to think that Shego had withdrawn her offer without informing him and she did not want to negotiate. Perhaps now she was just waiting for the next day's sunrise where she would carve up her bull before doing the same to his city. The thought made his jaw tighten to the point where it seemed like his teeth would shatter against each other, but as he exhaled, his face relaxed somewhat. Well, he would not go down without a fight, she could be sure of that, he thought with a huff as he continued to pace in one of the mansions many sitting rooms.

The room was white, not counting the mosaics that covered the floors and the walls. There were also frescos on the walls. The pictures around there were more peaceful scenes then the one in the other room. They showed scenes of Middleton gods interacting and protecting Middleton citizens. The high ceilings even had such scenes on them.

The room had a banquet prepared in it, tables covered with foods of all types. The feast was to greet the messenger and to hopefully relax the Goh representative into favorable terms. If push came to shove, there was even a "special" set up for the person. If the terms were too harsh, they would silence the messenger and with luck by some time to prepare for the Goh onslaught. Maybe they would be able to take the world's largest and most victorious army.

Barkin's stance suddenly grew less tense and a bit more confident. His chest puffed out from pride because he liked to think that Middleton stood a chance against the Gohs just because they had been campaigning all spring and summer, as they had done every year since Kane had decided that he wanted to conquer the known world and his daughter desired the same thing. They had to be tired by now, the Governor figured. Crossing over from the East into the West had to be no small feat either, so they would only add to their exhaustion. Surely they were now worn down to the point where he would at least be able to hold them until some ally came to his aid. Combining forces with some other nation or city-state would certainly lead to them being able to push those demon Gohs back into the East, he tried to assure himself.

His sandals clacked on the white, tiled floor as his nervousness continued to build; the noise echoed through the place. He folded his arms across his chest and tapped a finger against his large, bare bicep. His face was back to being tense and there was a frown dominating his face. Where was that messenger? He was starting to believe that if the Goh royal official did show up, it might actually be bad sign and he was going to have to go right to the "special" food that had been left out because such lateness could not mean anything positive. Perhaps Shego had waylaid her own messenger to plot some nefarious deed against him. After all, it would be easier to take the city if he was out of the way and he was sure that Shego wanted to take the city quickly with as little resistance as possible.

Barkin's finger against his bicep began going faster and tapped harder as he continued to think on the matter. So, what if Shego decided instead of sending her messenger, she would send an assassin? His heart rate sped up as that thought and others invaded his mind. The city would be without leadership without him, he told himself. It would make sense to kill him as soon as possible because he was the head of the city. So, it was possible that she was going to kill him, he almost convinced himself.

"It's definitely not impossible," Barkin muttered to himself.

"Actually, it's Kim Possible," an almost friendly voice remarked from behind him.

Barkin nearly jumped out of his skin and turned around, spinning on his heel like a military officer had ordered him to do an about-face; his brown and white toga twirled with him. He tried his best not to look shocked as he was ready to face with whoever the person was that sneaked up on him, but his eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open for a moment. His face fell into a frown when he saw who was there. He was disappointed to see that he was scared of a rather small woman. She was standing as if the world belonged to her while behind her was a young man that was trying to untangle himself from a wire that came down from the ceiling.

The young woman was a dark redhead; her hair was actually closer to orange than red. There was a smug look in her olive eyes and on her rounded, peach-colored face. She was wearing pants, which was a clothing style of the East that had yet to catch on in the West, where they still preferring tunics and togas. Her pants were tan, obviously lightweight, and wide legged. She had the pants tied at the bottoms with black cloth that was also wrapped around her feet instead of wearing sandals or slippers. Her shirt was a tight black fit with a high collar that covered almost half of her neck and no sleeves; it was closed by three buttons from below her collar bone to her neck. Around her waist, there was a badge hanging with a yellow sun engulfed in green flames, which was the symbol of Shego's piece of the Goh Empire.

"Um…K. P, a little help, please," the blonde behind her requested while continuing to struggle with his threaded prison.

Kim sighed, but she was smiling rather fondly. She put her hand on her back to help her partner out. She drew a dagger faster than Barkin was able to see and cut the wire that was holding up her partner. The blonde hit the tiled floor with a thud and a groan while being covered in the wires that he had been tangled in.

"Thanks, Kim," he mumbled while trying to get himself together, picking himself up off of the ground and rubbing his hip.

Barkin was not sure what to make of the pair that was standing before him, but he knew that he could not take his eyes off of the female of the duo. It was not because she was attractive, although she was just that and was showing it through her choice of shirts, but because she had not taken her eyes off of him. There was a deadly glint in the woman's eyes underneath the proud expression floating in those olive orbs. His heart was racing again and he tried to get that under control because he could not stand the idea that he was afraid of small woman.

The Governor watched the blonde young man as he finally untangled himself from the wire that he was caught in. He did not look any older than the woman that was in his company. He was dressed in the same sort of pants as her. He was wearing a red flowing shirt over a white shirt with a high collar and longer sleeves than the red shirt. He had on a pair of black slippers rather than no footwear at all like his female counterpart.

The blonde was not an imposing figure at all. He was only slightly taller than Kim and Barkin could only wonder if he was supposed to be the messenger. He would be shocked for Shego to send such a scrawny, practically a kid, to represent the Goh Empire. How was he supposed to believe that she was being serious with him if she would send someone so unmanly? But, when he spotted the badge hanging from the blonde's waist, he could only assume that he was the messenger.

"Governor Barkin?" Kim asked, even though she knew the answer to that. She and Ron had been crawling around the palace for hours now, so they knew quite a bit about the place and what was going on first hand. They also had intelligence to work with before going into the manor.

"Who wants to know?" Barkin countered in a haughty tone, seeming to be insulted that the woman was the one addressing him. He wondered if the messenger thought so highly of himself that the blonde did not need to address him. What an arrogant bunch those Gohs were, if that was the case.

"I'm Kim Possible and this is my partner Ron," she introduced the two while motioning to the blonde, who was still behind her fooling around with his equipment and grumbling about how his wires always got tangled together. Ron was not paying any attention to the exchange.

"And?" Barkin practically huffed, inclining his chin to her as if to show that he was above her.

Kim appeared unfazed his attitude, but underneath her outer demeanor, she was starting to become insulted with his tone toward her. She was starting to wish that Shego had called her for a different mission entirely. But, she was there to negotiate terms with him and she would do that. Perhaps if he proved to be the ass that he was acting like, she would get the privilege of removing him from their path. Before she could inform the overconfident official her purpose, Ron spoke up.

"Whoa, look at that spread!" Ron grinned when he caught sight of the feast.

"Food!" Rufus squeaked as he made him way onto Ron's shoulder from a pouch that Ron had on his side.

Barkin was a bit taken back by the appearance of the rodent, but he controlled himself so that his face did not show that. He was losing any respect for the messenger by the second. He decided to direct the pair's attention to the waiting banquet. He figured that the sooner that he started plying the blonde with food and wine, things would sooner be in his favor.

"This meal was prepared for your arrival. Come, let's sit and eat while we talk," Barkin informed them and he motioned for Ron to follow him.

Kim frowned as she walked behind the two males, not a place that she was accustomed to, even when in the presence of her Queen. She was not going to forget the disrespect that was being shown toward her as she made her report back and she was not going to let the governor get the first deal that she had been authorized to offer. The stakes had already been raised and Barkin was none the wiser.

Ron knew that Kim was undoubtedly upset from the fact that she seemed to be so easily forgotten by Barkin. He was just going to let the Governor go. It was not like he was going to get into any trouble if he let Barkin focus on him. Now, the Governor might have trouble later on, but that was really his problem, Ron figured.

Barkin called in slaves to serve him and his guests while also allowing other officials to join in for them to see how he was going to tear the Goh representative to shreds. Ron and Kim took their seats near the Governor, but Barkin was forced to sit next to Kim rather than the blonde in her company. He frowned at that, wondering if the woman was there to somehow protect Ron. How pathetic, he thought, for a man to need a woman for his protection.

Ron wasted no time digging into the all of the foods, some that he did not even know what they were. Rufus was right with him. They were unaware that Middleton officials were watching them and mentally commenting what barbarians they were for eating as they were. The officials were making sure not look as disgusted as they felt, even though they doubted that Ron would have noticed from the way that he was just attacking the food. There was also the fact that Ron ate sitting up that bothered the Middleton citizens; it was not something that was done in Middleton.

Feasts in Middleton were conducted on couches. The attendees were supposed to recline while partaking of the food, which all of the citizens were doing. Ron and Kim however remained sitting up, even though they knew about the Middleton custom. They were just used to sitting up while at a meal and were not in the mood to change. They were not there to make friends, after all.

Barkin was pleased to see Ron gorging himself, but he noticed that Kim was not eating at all. He mentally brushed her off, thinking that she was of no consequence to him. He was unnerved at the way that she glared at him with sharp, almost poisonous green eyes. She occasionally glanced over at Ron; she just wanted to make sure that he was only eating the things that he saw others eat. Ron was well aware that they were at risk of being poisoned anytime that they sat down at the enemies' table and he was always careful about what he and his little bald friend ingested. They never ate something that was only or first offered to them and they never accepted wine that they had not seen poured or wine poured from a new jar.

"Governor Barkin," Kim said after it was clear that he was trying to wait them out. She was not interested in being his company any longer than necessary and now that she was certain that Ron had eaten enough to where he would not whine when they left, she was ready to talk business.

"You should eat something," Barkin seemed to order her. His tone was forceful and insistent, not a good way to get through to her.

"I didn't come here to eat. I came here to tell you the Queen's terms," Kim replied in a surprisingly cold tone. She hardly ever spoke with such an attitude, but he was getting on her nerves.

"What?" Barkin asked incredulous because of what her words implied. His eyebrows shot up in confusion, causing wrinkles to appear on his broad forehead.

"I'm here to set the Queen's terms," Kim repeated. "I'm the Queen's messenger," she informed him.

Barkin looked like he saw a ghost as she spoke those words. All of the color drained from his face and his mouth dropped open a little bit. She was the messenger? No, there was no way that such an important job would be given to a woman, he tried to convince himself. That was even more unbelievable than Ron being the messenger. But then again, he silently admitted that there was an underlying hardness to the woman next to him. She damn sure was more intimidating than Ron for some reason.

Oh no, Barkin thought with dread; his face was now stark white. He had just spent all of his time and energy focusing on Ron rather than on the woman, whose name he could not even remember now, and she was the royal official. He was fearful for less than a minute though. The color returned to his face in that time and his heart rate remained steady.

All right, so the woman was the royal messenger, Barkin told himself. That was even better for him and his city. He could easily intimidate a woman, especially one of her stature. He was a big, strong man and she was just a petite woman. He should come out of the bargain way ahead, he figured.

"These are the Queen's terms," Kim said as she reached behind her.

Barkin's eyes widened in fright as he recalled that she had a blade on her back. So, Shego had planned to kill him, he concluded. Well, he would not be so easily taken down, especially not by some little girl. He was about to order that the Goh representatives be restrained, but luckily Kim was faster than he was before he could insult her any more than he had already. She presented him with a small scroll while he put his hands up to defend himself. Kim laughed as she realized what he thought was going to happen; she wished that they had been on the same page because she would have destroyed him with no problem if all he was going to do was put his hands up.

"Jumpy, aren't you?" Kim asked with a bit of a chuckle. Ron and Rufus took in the exchange and laughed too.

Barkin looked down to see that she was holding a sealed scroll rather than her sword from earlier. He breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the parchment. Kim eyed him while he put the scroll down. She frowned when it was apparent that he was not going to open it.

"You have to open it and read it if you want to know what the Queen wants," the redhead pointed out in a deadpan tone.

"Really," Rufus squeaked from his resting place on Ron's full stomach.

Barkin looked at his olive-eyed guest as if she was insane. Surely she did not think that he was going to open official business with her and her bottomless pit of a partner right there, he thought. Kim was about to change his mind on that.

"I only have until morning to get word back to her. If I'm not back before the sun rises, she'll be coming to have everything that she likes with wanton disregard to your heart," Kim commented calmly, but there was underlying amusement in her voice. There was a darkness in her eyes that conveyed even more than her words could tell.

Barkin could not help gulping and he decided to open the scroll at that very moment. Kim was slightly satisfied and decided to indulge in one cup of wine while he looked over the scroll. He did not know it, but she had given him a second scroll that was supposed to be used if Kim deemed it fit. He seemed like an ass and so, she thought that the second scroll was more appropriate. It asked for much stronger terms than the first one, which had not been easy anyway.

As Barkin quietly read through the scroll, Kim sipped her wine with a frown on her face. The drink was not as good as she was used to. It was watered down too much. She could see why Ron was downing it by the cup full and had yet to wobble as he typically did when having more drink than he could handle. The blonde was happy to be at a feast with wine that he could down without having to worry about when he was going to pass out. The redhead smiled a bit as she noticed the Governor's face fall. His jaw would have probably landed in his lap if he did not end up talking.

"She can't be serious," Barkin whispered in disbelief. He did not mean to say that out loud, but what Shego was asking for was outrageous.

"I can assure you, she's just that," Kim remarked, still smiling rather smugly. "You've got until dawn to decide what you want to do, live or die," she informed him sharply.

It was not much of a choice from the way that Kim made it sound and she did not think that it was much of a choice. One submitted to the Queen's will, either through her good graces or by force. Being in her good graces was a better way to go in Kim's opinion. After all, Shego was full of surprises and one never knew what might happen when she was happy about something going her way without her having to plow through the walls of a city.

Barkin expectedly tore himself away from the banquet and was followed by several men who Kim and Ron guessed were his advisors. The pair remained where they were, the redhead sipping her wine and Ron taking in more food. Kim reached over and plucked juicy-looking grape out of Ron's hand.

"Hey," he objected and turned to her just in time to see Kim put the fruit in her mouth.

Kim smiled at him. "You should share," she teased him.

"There's plenty to get your own," he replied with a little smile of his own. His expression was due to the fact that she smiled at him and he loved that. "So, what do you think?" the blonde asked since they were fairly isolated now that most of the party left. He leaned forward to retrieve some more grapes.

"He's either going to go for it or prove that he's an idiot and try to take us on," Kim answered the obvious with a small shrug.

"You really think he's that stupid?" Ron inquired in disbelief, his eyebrow far in the air as he turned to look at the redhead.

She shrugged again. "He didn't strike me as the smartest man out there."

"He sets up a hell of a banquet, though," the blonde remarked and Rufus agreed with him, nodding vigorously before dashing out onto the table for more grub.

Kim waved his words off. "I've seen better." She was not looking to give Governor Barkin credit for anything.

"I know you have. I've been there after all!" he pointed out with a grin. They had been to way better feasts, of course, but it was a nice spread to just welcome two messengers.

Kim could not argue that and decided to recline while waiting for the terms to either be agreed to or they would be going to war by that time tomorrow. It did not bother her one way or the other. After all, she was not following the royal army for nothing. She liked the thrill of the battle as much as the next person, hell maybe more than the next person. She knew that she liked it more than her companion, not that there was anything wrong with that.

For Ron, life was not about gaining fame by doing incredible acts, as Kim did on the daily basis if given the chance. Life was about reaping the benefits that came with following Kim around and not getting her killed; that was how most people put it when describing what he did. He liked the finer things in life, food, wine, and almost anything that passed for entertainment. He enjoyed the luxuries that common men could only dream about, which was fine by Kim. Why gain access to such things and not use them after all?

Kim suspected that Ron would just reap the rewards of being a noble if it was not for her, but then again, he would admit that he would not be in the position that he was in if it was not for her. After all, he had no real desire to go out and do crazy things like she did. He did want to keep an eye on her, though; he was not sure what he would do in life without her and he did not mean that in a materialistic way at all. He was certain that he would be lost in every sense without her; she felt like she would be the same without him.

* * *

"How can she expect us to pay that amount of gold?" Barkin demanded to know in a heated tone. There was a vein bulging in his thick neck from his anger. He was not asking anyone that question in particular. He was merely venting his rage over the price of tribute Shego requested to avoid leveling his city.

"We can't afford that," one official commented as he looked upon the scroll to see the price asked of them.

The amount of gold that Shego wanted was merely one of the problems that they had with her list of demands. It was just the biggest at the moment because there was no way that they would be able to afford it, especially considering that they would have to pay it to the Goh Empire every year.

"Well, what are we going to do? She's coming in here in the morning if we don't send her messengers back with our answer," another advisor pointed out, trying to keep the fact that he was frightened out of his voice. He was doing a poor job of it.

"We could fight them. We've got an army of our own," Barkin stated firmly, as if he truly believed that the other men noted.

"Are you mad, Governor? Our little army couldn't take on that massive war machine out there," another man argued while motioning to a wall, which was his way of pointing outside to refer to the Goh army.

"Those men out there are fatigued from a season of warfare and led on by a woman. One woman who probably just needs to break a nail to call those exhausted men to retreat. We can defeat them," Barkin countered strongly, making a fist and flexing his massive bicep to emphasize his point.

The Governor could not believe that his officials were shaking over the fact that one little woman was standing outside their walls. They were men, so they would naturally defeat her in a battle, in his opinion. She probably could not even stand the sight of blood, he thought. She probably just needed a man to show her the proper way to treat woman and that would undoubtedly keep her at home. He refused to show fear because of such a pitiful creature; well, he would not show fear in front of others anyway if he could help it.

"A woman? She's a demon! That's the daughter of Death out there and you want to send our soldiers to fight her? It's said that she breathes fire like a dragon!" one man argued forcefully, motioning to the wall with a violent sweep of his hand.

"These are nothing but stories made up to frighten children. We all know a woman can't breathe fire," Barkin commented with vigor.

"You'll have us being part of the Goh Empire with talk like that, sir!"

"Either way, we'll be under their thumb. If we agree to these terms, we'll be bankrupt and utterly dependent upon the Goh Empire. Is that what you men want?" Barkin demanded to know, ready to grab the nearest coward by the throat and shake him silly just to vent his own frustration. He could not live with himself if he and his city were under the control of not only a barbarian, but also a barbarian queen nonetheless. Men were not meant to be ruled by women, in his opinion. And the civilized were not meant to be ruled over by barbarians either.

"We don't want to die in the assault on the city tomorrow either," someone pointed out.

"Then how about I kill all of your cowards now and you won't have to worry about tomorrow!" Barkin offered in a fury as he did grab the closest coward by the neck. He shook the official a bit before someone stepped in and held his giant arm, halting the abuse.

The official holding Barkin began speaking in a calm tone. "Sir, you're being too hasty. You have to remember that this city and the people are also your responsibility. You cannot allow a siege from the Gohs to take place while there are people still inside these walls. You know how quickly they're known to take walls. We'd never get everyone out of here in time."

"So, you're saying we should bow down like cowards to a woman, like mere babes, and accept her terms?" Barkin inquired, disgust clear in his voice. He was still holding onto one man, but he was no longer shaking him.

"I'm saying we should appear to accept the terms until we can better formulate a plan of attack. I hear that Shego winters back at her capital city, so we'd have the whole winter to think of a plan and build allies before she returns."

"Hmm…" Barkin thought about it. "We still can't pay what she asks to even buy that kind of time," he pointed out.

"We'll buy time some other way. Perhaps, a goodwill hostage would suffice for her to know that we're at least planning to gather the wealth."

"But, who would we send for her to trust in such a thing?" Barkin inquired.

The men thought on it before coming to a conclusion. They then went to tell Kim the terms that they had come up with. Kim nodded in agreement and informed them that they would hear from her Queen within the day if the terms were acceptable. As a bit of a warning, just to make them nervous, she told them that if her Queen accepted they would not have to see her again, but if her Queen refused, they definitely would not see her again. She was referring to how easily she and her cohort sneaked into the castle. They did not do it just for fun after all.

* * *

Shego was lounging in the royal tent, which was just as comfortable as a small manor house. She was sitting on a large green pillow with tables around her. She was taking in a meal just in case she had to start trouble in the morning. She was dying for a drop of wine, but knew it to be a bad idea to get drunk the night before an assault. So, she had water with a variety of different dishes. Her meal was interrupted as her messengers returned.

"Oh, food," Ron pretty much yelped, grinning when he saw the Queen's spread.

"Food!" Rufus squeaked while diving toward their Queen's meal.

"Don't even try it, rodent," Shego said in a menacing tone while catching the bald mole rat before he had a chance to land in a pastry that she was fully intent on eating. Rufus pouted from being thwarted, but did not move out of Shego's loose grip.

"You guys ate already," Kim pointed out with a sigh. It had been a couple of hours ago, but she did not think that they should be hungry again already.

"Kimmie, keep your pigs to yourself," Shego commented while tossing the rat back at his owner. Despite her semi-harsh tone and insulting language, she did throw Rufus gentle and underhanded to make it easy for the blonde to get him.

"Can't you share?" Ron asked meagerly while catching his naked pal with ease. Shego's meal certainly looked a lot better than the one that he had back in Middleton, even if it was smaller. Plus, he knew that he was not going to be poisoned if he ate anything with Shego.

"Kimmie, get him out of here unless you want him fried," Shego growled as she felt up a fist coated in green fire.

Kim sighed and ushered Ron out of the tent, telling him to go find his own food or go to their tent and get some sleep. She went back into the royal tent without watching what direction Ron went in. She did not hesitate in her next move as she went and sat down right next to the Queen.

"So, what's next, Kimmie?" Shego inquired curiously while sipping her water. Her throat was screaming for wine, but she ignored the craving.

"Could you not call me 'Kimmie' with all your servants around?" Kim requested with an embarrassed sigh. There were not that many servants around, but it was still a bit bothersome that they were there and Kim was being addressed in such a childish manner.

"Hey, I'll call my little sister whatever the hell I want," Shego countered arrogantly, smiling her usual teasing smile.

Kim only sucked her teeth and frowned a bit, but she let the subject drop. Shego had adopted Kim as her little sister years ago. It was a curious thing to some people, but Shego liked Kim almost immediately when she met the younger girl, noticing a lot of herself in Kim. Of course, there were differences between them, but not enough to make Shego care. She had never met someone outside of her family that understood her as well as Kim did.

"These are the terms he agreed to," Kim answered while handing the Queen a scroll and then she reached for a piece of meat, earning a slap on the wrist. "Ow!" the redhead complained while pulling her hand back.

"Don't touch my food with your dirty hands. Acting like you were raised in a cave," Shego said with a scoff.

Kim turned her mouth up at being admonished, but she did not say anything. She reached for a utensil, which was just a thin, smooth, six-inch wooden splinter. She used that to pick up the meat, which was diced into small cubes for it to be easily pierced with the utensils, and did not get reprimanded that time while Shego opened the scroll. The Queen went over the contents while Kim pretty much ate her supper.

"All right. Go get me Director," Shego ordered Kim a few seconds later. The redhead groaned as if she was annoyed and her face scrunched up, apparently not in favor of that command.

"Since when am I the slave girl around here?" Kim complained in a near-whiny tone. There were a lot of things happening against her today, she noted, and she was not enjoying it. She was freaking Kim Possible, after all, not some plain servant for everyone to treat any old way that overcame them.

"I do believe that badge shows you as the royal messenger, so go carry my damn message," Shego commanded while pointing out of the tent.

"If I wanted to be ordered around, I'd stay at home with my grandmother," Kim grumbled under her breath as she stood up.

"Keep it up and I'll leave you with her come spring," Shego replied smoothly.

Kim wisely did not say anything to that threat. She would not put it passed her adopted sister to leave her behind when the campaigning season came back again. She would go insane stuck at the Possible manor all year, even if there were dozens of things to do. It was just that those things did not hold the same weight as riding into battle did.

The redhead was not gone for a minute and when she returned, she had Betty Director in her company. Betty was a major player in the army, having several very important jobs. She was in charge of their intelligence gathering as well as commander of one of the best cavalry units in the army. Whenever the forces were split, Betty was always the first one to be put in charge of one of the splits. She was pretty much second-in-command, really second only to the Queen in many ways.

"What?" Betty inquired rather rudely. Most people probably would be surprised that Shego was their ruler with the casual way certain people acted in her presence.

"These are his terms," Shego answered while flinging the scroll at the brunette female. Kim flopped back down next to Shego and went back to casually eating up the supper.

Betty caught the scroll with ease, even though she was lacking an eye. She had lost the eye when she was younger and not quite as experienced in battle. It did not help matters that she had been fighting against the very army that she was now a part of. She had been a captive at first, but when she saw how easy it was to gain rank and gain favor, she voluntarily fought under Shego. Now, they were rather close and worked together with ease.

"So, I'll just collect this stuff and then meet you back at the palace?" Betty inquired, not bothering to look at the scroll yet. There was always a chance that there was a little more that the Queen wanted from her.

"That'll do. Appoint an official and let volunteers stay here. I'm sure you'll get more than enough after telling them they'll be well taken care of by the city officials. Leave a few of your usual people behind too," Shego answered.

Betty nodded to show that she got all of that. "You want me to take the long way back?"

"Yeah, just to fool them into thinking we're moving forward instead of back. Make sure the communications between everything is secure too. I don't like this guy too much," Shego answered.

"He gave me a bad vibe," Kim volunteered that information, knowing it was valued.

"Well, if he gives the little princess a bad vibe, watch him twice as hard, Director," Shego said quite seriously. She trusted Kim's instincts better than her own because she had seen what those instincts did for the redhead. Kim had survived more close calls than Shego had and in less time, so the Queen figured that something was keeping the redhead alive beyond favor from the gods.

Betty nodded to show that she understood. She trusted Kim's instincts just as much as Shego did. So, she was going to be very careful in carrying out her orders. The last thing she wanted was for some small barbarian city-state to give them trouble on their march into the West.

* * *

Next time: Bonnie finally shows up.

Notes: The Western dress here was inspired by ancient Roman and Greek. The Eastern dress was inspired by Persian and Chinese dress. I'm not saying it's exact, but I was trying to work off of those pieces to give both sides different clothing styles.

Middleton citizens eating reclined was also something borrowed from ancient Romans. And as far as all the wine-drinking goes, in ancient times the alcohol was safer than the water in many places.

Both sides refer to each other as barbarians because in ancient times, many civilizations were quite ethnocentric. Also, the term in its original meaning just referred to a non-Greek speaking civilization.


	3. Welcome home

I don't own these characters.

3: Welcome home

Shego was fighting back a yawn while sitting in her throne room. It was a large space with rich, vibrant tapestries hanging all around the room, depicting all sorts of different scenes and symbols. There was a giant window at the far end of the room that was sealed since the winter was approaching. The floor was covered in black pearl while the walls were a light jade, reflecting Shego's royal colors. The floor made it difficult to keep the room lit without the aid of fire because the black did not reflect light well, but the walls were good for bouncing the sunlight around when it was allowed in the room.

Shego was sitting on her throne, which consisted of a foot-high platform at the back of the monstrous hall. The stand was a deep onyx. The platform was situated on a wall, which had a golden sun on it and the sun was surrounded by green flames. The design was made from precious metals and stones, but from a distance looked as smooth as a fresco.

The pale monarch was positioned to where she was sitting with her back in the center of the design. She was on top of a comfortable, fluffy black pillow instead of having a chair of any kind. On that pillow, there were a number of smaller green pillows to provide cushion to her back when she wanted it. In front of her was a small, mahogany table, which was covered in scrolls and other royal matters that she needed to attend to while she was home.

The Queen, to her credit, was actually working. She was hunched over, elbows leaning on the table as she read through a document. Her gold and emerald encrusted coronet was off to the side of her, near some more documents; she hardly ever wore the headpiece. She found that the crown was a good paperweight.

Shego really would not care about doing such tedious, administrative work if it was not important in keeping her newly conquered territories in order. She would easily pass off her work, but she liked knowing what was going on around her lands. If push came to shove, she was known to get Kimmie to do some stuff or she could get Betty to do as the older woman had a strange fascination with bureaucratic matters. When there was no more war to be had, Shego planned to make Betty a governor in whatever place had the most paperwork.

She would much rather be sparring right now than anything else. She could think of a dozen things that she would rather be doing actually, in under a minute more than likely. She would rather be gambling or going to a fighting match. She would prefer to be playing chess, or getting drunk, or beckoning one of her lovers to entertain her through out the day. But, the paperwork was important and she knew that she needed to take care of it before having anything that resembled fun.

"Princess, don't you have anything better to do than sneak up on me?" Shego asked without bothering to look up, which was where Kim was located, hanging from a wire.

"Not really. My mom is still checking on wounded soldiers, my dad and my brothers are working on a new siege machine they think'll be great for next year's campaign, and Ron went out to see one of those creepy oddity shows he likes so much with Felix," Kim explained with a sigh.

"And your grandmother isn't tormenting you?" Shego inquired while noting that there must have been more wounded than she thought if the redheaded doctor was still checking on them. She was going to have to remember to get a report from Kim's mother later on; Kim's mother was in charge of all of the doctors that worked in the army.

"Nope. I escaped her by saying you called me to spar with you," Kim answered with an impish smile.

"In other words, you lied?" Shego asked, disbelief laced in her voice. That was a new one. She had never known Kim to lie, which was one of the reasons that she enjoyed having the younger female around her.

"Well, it won't be a lie if you tell me to spar with you," the redhead pointed out while dropping down from her wire and landing right next to the Queen. She had a hopeful smile plastered on her face; she _needed_ something to do.

Kim was the only person allowed on the royal throne aside for Shego. There were plenty of people that were jealous of the liberties were afforded to the daredevil redhead, especially people that were born into the Goh Empire. Kim, like a few people that Shego surrounded herself with, was born in a conquered territory, but no one would think to speak up about being dissatisfied considering just how capable everyone was that Shego had around her. Not many people were looking to chance upsetting the Queen either by saying something against the woman that she adopted as a sister.

"Do I look like I have time to have fun right now?" Shego inquired while motioning to the paper in front of her; the sleeve of her emerald green, silk robe shifted downward because of the movement. Her bracelets also rang as they slid into each other. She dressed richly when she was home; it was good to be the Queen.

Kim groaned; she was bored. "Don't make me go back to that house. You know how my grandmother is," she said with a begging expression on her face.

Shego glanced at Kim. She believed that her adopted little sister lost a little more sanity with each winter that they took in the capital. The younger female was too active, which was one of the things that set them apart. Shego did not need to be doing something every minute of every day like Kim did. Ever since she met Kim, when they were not sparring, arguing, and conquering together, Shego was trying to teach the redhead to relax while Kim was trying to drag Shego around the world.

"Here, take this and you don't have to go home," Shego said while shoving several documents onto her adopted sister.

The redhead groaned again. "This isn't what I meant," she muttered.

"Will you stop whining? Geez, I'm going to send you into the mountains this winter to fight frostbite," Shego threatened the younger warrior.

Kim just made a mocking face while diving into the paperwork. The sooner they got the bureaucratic dealings out of the way, the sooner they could have some fun and do some sparring. She worked faster at paperwork that Shego did; she would dare think that she was better at it than Shego. If she voiced such a thing, it would lead to a fight, which she would like, but she knew that they needed to get the work out of the way.

The work was interrupted for the second time that day as it was announced that Betty Director had returned. Shego decided to take the report from Betty immediately; any relevant excuse to stop working was music to the Queen's ears. So, Shego called in Betty and whoever was in her company too.

The throne was soon quickly flooded with people. At the forefront of all of the folks was Betty Director and her lieutenant, an annoying man by the name of Will Du. Shego had once threatened to use him as a battering ram to break through a wall, claiming that his head had to be harder than the stone barrier. She had come very close to going through with that threat because it was frustrating siege and he was not helping by standing around and pointing out the obvious. He was saved when Kim came up with a good idea to get passed the walls, which actually annoyed him and he let the redhead know it. Kim made a mental note to keep her ideas to herself if Shego ever decided to put him through a wall again.

"My Queen," Betty greeted Shego formally probably since so many subordinates were around and they were not on the battlefield as well.

Shego was more inclined to skip formalities when they were at war than when they were tucked away in the capital, even though they acted just as friendly there as they would anywhere else. Betty bowed and everyone mimicked her actions alongside her. The one-eyed woman did not remained bowed for more than a second though, while everyone else wanted for closer to ten seconds before rising.

"All right, tell me what happened with Middleton," Shego ordered.

"Well, before leaving, I appointed an official to watch over everything. Almost an entire half of the single soldiers I had with me volunteered to stay behind in Middleton, which might've had something to do with the fact that they all decided to live in statesmen's houses. Everything seemed fine while I was there. We've got your tribute and some other gifts. Sit back while I go down the list," Betty replied, trying to sound all business, but there was still an underlying hint of friendliness in her tone.

Shego nodded and smirked while settling in to make herself comfortable. She leaned back against the wall and pillows while Kim continued going on with the paperwork because she was not interested in anything going on. Betty started announcing the tribute and gifts that Shego had received from Governor Barkin while Will Du checked things off a scroll as the items were brought up to be presented to the Queen.

Shego was not very impressed with everything that arrived beyond the treasure. The textiles disinterested her since she always believed Goh silk to be the best cloth ever. She supposed that she could bestow the bobbles on some noble that she was pretending to favor for the moment. She would never give something that she thought was very beneath her to someone that she felt was a true friend. Animals were brought on and she did not even know where to begin doing something with those.

"What the hell do I want with a bear?" Shego wondered aloud with a baffled expression on her face. Barkin had actually sent her a bear as if she had a use for the creature or like she had never seen one before.

"Send it to your tweebs," Kim suggested, not looking up from her scroll.

"Sounds good." Shego nodded; her baby brothers would undoubtedly love a pet bear. She could picture them in her mind grinning over the gift.

She figured that could also send something to Mego and fake like she was thinking of him; he would love that. After the animals, there came some gifts that Shego did care about, fruits and wine. There were also oils among the gifts, which was useful too. The last item on the list got Shego's full attention, although some thought that that was not a good thing.

"Lastly, insurance that you'll get the rest of the gold they promised sometime soon," Betty said while two men pulled what seemed to be a prisoner up to the throne.

Shego chuckled a bit when she saw the prisoner, who was shackled with special gold chains. Oh, Betty had some sense of humor, Shego thought because the golden cuffs were a nice touch. It had the air of the prisoner being important, but understanding who was in charge. It was actually against the usual rules of what was happening, but Betty knew that Shego wanted it understood by the prisoner that she was the one in charge.

"Let me go!" the prisoner ordered while struggling with the men holding onto her, causing a violent sway of her white, flowing toga.

Shego arched an eyebrow and seemed interested in the brown-haired female as she yanked at the guards, trying to get them off of her. The Queen leaned forward while watching the little hellcat go. The prisoner was unable to shake off the much larger guards, but that did not seem to bother her. She then turned her eyes up toward the Queen, looking at Shego with dagger-like turquoise eyes. The leader was now as intrigued as she could possibly be, thinking that she was looking into the eyes of a real hellcat.

"I see the underworld is coughing up relatives of mine left and right," Shego remarked with a laugh, referring to how people thought she was a demon and that her parents had come straight from the very belly of Hell.

The prisoner dared to spit in the Queen's direction, causing everyone around to gasp. Kim, who had not been paying the scene much mind despite the noise coming from the prisoner, decided to look up when she heard everyone inhale so sharply. Shego appeared taken aback by the action of her prisoner, but there was a smile tugging at her lips.

"Make no mistake, barbarian, that I bear no relation to a beast like you!" the captive woman declared heatedly and arrogantly.

"Hey, you can't talk to her like that!" Kim protested with a frown. Only she could talk to her big sister like that, she proclaimed mentally and she would never mean such harsh words.

Shego was now at the height of entertained, thinking that if the prisoner kept going, her adopted little sister would end up flying into action. That would certainly take her mind off of her paperwork that she hoped Kim had mostly gotten through already. Since Betty was back, maybe she would handle some of the paperwork too, Shego thought. Things were certainly looking up in her opinion.

"I don't take orders from filthy wretches!" the prisoner hollered at Kim.

The redhead could not have looked more insulted that if the captive had said something about her mother. Her eyebrows bent in a fury and she made a tight fist. Not usually one to get so hyped up so soon, it was obvious that something about the prisoner just rubbed Kim the wrong way. It might have had something to do with the fact that the prisoner was obviously in Kim's age-range. As far as things went around the royal court, Kim was used to being the youngest person there and did not stand for when others spoke down to her, so there was no way that she would stand for someone her age to talk down to her in front of everyone. Especially when that someone was a freaking captive.

Kim stood up and marched down to the prisoner. Her powerful stride did not seem to faze the brunette at all. Everyone in the room watched with intense eyes, wondering what the little princess was going to do to the hostage.

"Want to say that to my face?" the redhead demanded to know with a scowl on her face.

"I also don't address filthy wretches on command," the prisoner remarked and turned her nose up to the olive-eyed warrior.

Kim clenched her fist even tighter as a vein bulged in her neck from her anger. Everyone watched and waited to see if Kim was actually going to hit the prisoner. The redhead was usually the most restrained and had the most self-control of anyone at court, so it would be amazing to see her actually lose herself over just a few words. It would seem that she might not be able to get along with someone her own age.

"Back up, Kim," Shego called because she could see that her adopted sister was going to go to a land that she had never been before, namely hitting someone out of anger.

Kim scowled deeper, something that was very unlike herself, but she backed up as she was told to do. Shego decided to stand up, which shocked everyone because she moved to approach the captive. The prisoner looked up at her with defiance in those aqua-colored eyes. Shego surprisingly smirked because of the way her captive was eyeing her; it was like the girl thought that she was better than the Queen.

"You are a little hellcat, you know? The only person I've met to get a rise out of the little princess like that was me," Shego remarked, still smirking.

"Barbarians bothering barbarians," the prisoner spat.

"You certainly think highly of yourself for someone so far from home, especially considering how expendable your daddy had to think you were to send you here," Shego pointed out rather smugly.

It would seem that the Queen's words hit their mark with deadly accuracy; one of Shego's hidden talents was knowing exactly what to say to make a person feel like no one on the planet cared if they lived or died. The prisoner looked away from her and her eyes quickly transformed from rebellious to sorrowful. Shego knew that it could not be a good feeling for a father to send a daughter away to strange land for the sake of negotiation, which was the case of what happened with her captive. Shego actually could not imagine how it had to feel for a father to use a daughter in such a way. It was almost enough to touch her…in some place that she dare not think that she had.

The Queen was rather glad to not be able to imagine what it was like for a father to send a daughter away. Even if her father had the gall, her mother would have bitten his head off if he tried such a thing. She guessed that her hostage did not have a mother that was willing to stick up for her either, which was just something else that was beyond Shego's comprehension. She began to feel a prickle of some unwanted emotion, so she decided to speak.

"So, Princess Bonnie, what is it I should do with you?" Shego inquired in a teasing tone. It was not like she cared about the opinion of her prisoner, but it was nice to taunt someone new.

The prisoner, Bonnie, turned back to the Queen and looked her dead in the eye. The brown-haired female seemed to steel herself before addressing Shego again. It was a wise thing to do considering the green-skinned woman tended to have a smart-aleck remark for everything. She was known to dent some of the thickest armor without much effort.

"You should make me Queen since I'm the only one around here with any civility," Bonnie commented firmly.

The court was silent, wondering how their ruler was going to respond to that. If the Queen was in a playful mood, everything might be all right. But if her humor had abandoned her, someone was going to have to explain to the Governor of Middleton why his daughter had been reduced to a pile of ashes when she was supposed to be a goodwill hostage and taken good care of. Yes, Bonnie was a goodwill hostage. She was going to be staying with Shego until her father was able to come up with the rest of Shego's tribute. She was a show of good faith that Barkin was trying to come up with the rest of the gold. Well, he might regret that show of faith, many thought as they waited for their monarch to react.

Shego suddenly laughed, surprising the members of her court again. She seemed to be in a very good mood. Kim suspected that it had something to do with her adopted big sister getting out of her paperwork for the moment. The rest of the court, well the sheep anyway, followed right along and laughed with Shego. A few people, like Betty and Kim, remained silent.

"Well, Bonnie—" Shego started.

"_Princess_ Bonnie," the hostage corrected the Queen. She was a princess, even though her father carried the title of "governor." He was the ruler of the Middleton city-state for the most part.

Shego did not seem to like being cut off and frowned for a moment. But, her frown quickly turned back into a smirk. Oh, she was standing before quite the amusing creature, Shego thought.

Others around were not inclined to agree; most of the court thought that Bonnie was quite rude and a little stupid. After all, Shego could easily tear Bonnie in half if she felt like it. Hell, she would not even have to make the mess with her hands. She could probably snap her fingers and point at Bonnie and Kim would be on the foreign princess in less than a second. Kim would be happy to oblige with such a task too, hating Bonnie quite deeply already.

Betty just found the Westerner annoying, especially since she never shut up. The one-eyed woman was glad to see that Bonnie was someone else's problem now. She could only wonder how Shego would handle the young woman since she had been very close to popping Bonnie in the mouth a few times.

"Listen, hellcat, while you're here, I'll call you whatever the hell comes to mind and since you want to be so close to royalty, you can bear my cups for me," Shego informed the younger female. "Other than that, everyone, tonight we feast welcoming Director's return!" the pale ruler announced, which provoked loud cheers from everyone around.

"You just want an excuse to crack those cases of new wine," Betty remarked, speaking to Shego in a low tone.

"Don't act like you're not going to drink as much as I am," Shego countered.

Betty could only shrug. If the wine was any good, she had no problem with drinking the Queen into a forgetful stupor. It was time to relax as winter drew closer and the warring was on hold until the chill removed itself from their paths.

* * *

The celebration was held in a large dining hall. There were tiled mosaics on the floor and on the walls. The pictures depicted battles scenes of all types; surprisingly enough, not all of them were centered around Shego, even though many of them were. The scenes went beyond Shego's arrogance, but also to the fact that she pretty much led every success her troops had. A couple of scenes, she had graciously had done surrounding her second-in-command, Betty Director. The one-eyed woman worked wonders with the units too, after all. There were a few scenes with Kim and no homage to battle would be complete in Shego's opinion without at least once scene of her father.

Like in the throne room, there were rich tapestries hanging from the walls too. Those showed a variety of scenes, but mostly displayed how wealthy Shego was and how she liked fine things just from the materials used in them. There were a few pillars with paintings on them. It seemed that Shego liked scenes on everything.

There was music playing around the hall; strings, wind, and percussion instruments blaring at a steady rhythm. There were scantly clad dancers of both sexes in bright colors going around the room to keep the party-goers entertained, beyond all of the food, wine, and gambling anyway. Bonnie could hardly believe the spectacle and there was so much more.

Not too far from where Bonnie was standing, which was quite close to the Queen herself, there was gambling going on and Shego was right in the thick of it, enjoying a good game of dice. She also happened to be losing at the game, but she was in such good spirits that she did not mind. With the good wine flowing, Shego was likely to stay in an elevated mood for the entire party, which would probably spill over to when she was going off to bed. All she needed to do was spot someone worth her while or someone that she knew was decent company.

The guests of the party all reclined on pillows, which was different from what Bonnie expected at a feast. Bonnie was used to couches and tables high enough to reach up to the couches, but not there. There were fluffy, large colorful pillows all around the great hall with tables that were barely a foot high. The tables were made for a person to be sitting up close to it. The trays were covered in food, but there were also servants close by the bring more of whatever someone wanted to the table.

Bonnie was there as a servant, much to her disgust and dismay. She was now Shego's cupbearer. She could hardly bear the shame of it. She, a princess of Middleton, the servant to a drunken barbarian; it was downright disgraceful and degrading. She wanted to kill her father for putting her into such a position. She was going to get him back for handing her such horrid fate…she just did not know how she was going to get her revenge. Oh, but she certainly would have her revenge.

For a brief moment, the tanned princess did entertain thoughts on what she would do with her father. Maybe string him up and give him a million tiny cuts. Or trap him in the room with her mother for a month. Oh, yeah, that would teach, she thought. She could imagine him clawing at the walls to escape, screaming about how it was cruel and unusual punishment. She smiled slightly at the image in her mind.

Bonnie had tried to fight her father on sending her as a hostage of goodwill. Unfortunately, he was the one in charge and he was just as stubborn as she was. He tried to sooth her by telling her that she would be treated as a princess, even in barbarian hands. After all, hostages of faith were supposed to be treated almost like family and yet, there she was holding cups and pouring wine for a beast woman.

In honesty, Bonnie did not understand why Shego had given her such a task. They were enemies, after all. The cupbearer was practically a sacred position. She could easily poison Shego while tending to her cups, but Shego did not seem to take that into consideration. The Queen actually seemed to not have a care in the world as she took drink after drink poured by her enemy's own hand.

Most of the court was with Bonnie on wondering why Shego had made the foreign princess her cupbearer, but they were used to the Queen doing odd, almost disrespectful things. After all, there had to be someone amongst them that was more worthy to pour the Queen's wine than some foreigner. Shego had her reasons for doing what she did, not that she would ever share them with anyone else.

"Kimmie, come win my coins back for me!" Shego called to her adopted sister, who was not too far away, but the green-skinned woman had had a lot to drink by now and wanted to make sure that she was heard over the din of the celebration.

Kim turned to the raven-haired ruler and laughed a bit; it would seem that Kim had had just as much to drink. Ron was passed out next to her, snoring heavily. Rufus was lying on Ron's chest, just as knocked out. The master and pet had eaten their fill early on in the feast and mistakably drank from Kim's cup as they took in their wine. They were probably going to be out for the night and the next day.

Shego was not so drunk that she did not realize that her little sister was not coming and winning back her lost items immediately. She got up, wobbling ever-so slightly as she did so. Her bracelets and anklets chimed out as she took the few steps over to Kim and yanked her over to the dice game. The redhead did not object, allowing herself to taken to the game. Kim wasted no time in going to work, showing that her luck and skill in gambling were superior to the Queen's…at least when they were drunk anyway. The girl had the Devil's luck, Shego was sure of that.

Shego decided to sit back and let Kim work in her favor. She called for more wine, laughing as it was poured. Bonnie was sickened by the undignified way the so-called Queen was acting. Shego seemed like nothing more than a silly commoner to Bonnie; not that Bonnie had mingled with commoners to know how they acted. She did know that Shego was not acting anything like a ruler of any kind.

After all, what kind of queen got utterly drunk and gambled away all of her money? None that Bonnie met, not that she met many queens. Bonnie's life was pretty confined at her father's mansion. She did not get to attend many of his feasts, only the ones totally under control where everyone was being polite and discussing business, so her opinion on what happened at parties was somewhat biased. She thought all banquets were supposed to be conducted in a completely orderly fashion with political matters being the topics of the night, not overloading on drinks, gambling, and all around wild behavior.

"Barbarians," Bonnie thought with a frown marring her face and sucking her teeth. She hoped that she did not have to stay with them for long, although the day that she was there was too long for her.

The aqua-eyed female was not looking forward to being around long enough to see if all of the tales that she heard about barbarians were totally true. Supposedly, barbarians sometimes worked themselves into a frenzy and just started killing those around for no reason. She could already see that they ate strange foods, so she guessed that it was only a matter of times for she got to seeing them eat the flesh and organs other humans. She definitely did not want to be around for their nighttime religious practices, as she was told as a child that they roasted children alive on large bonfires to appease their gods.

The brunette princess cast her gaze out on the party as she began pouring more wine for Shego. The so-called guest of honor, Betty Director, was not too far from the Queen's area and she seemed to be just as deep in debauchery as everyone else at the heathen gathering. In fact, Betty was engaged in a form depravity that was new to Bonnie's sheltered gaze.

Betty was curled up on a large pillow, reclining in the lap of a blonde woman. Her head was resting in the blonde's lap and she was allowing the woman to caress her cheek. Even from a distance, the caressing was clearly gentle and loving. The blonde was saying soft, tender things to the warrior in her lap.

Bonnie would not have thought much of it if only the blonde had not leaned down and planted just about the most scandalous kiss to Betty's mouth that Bonnie had ever seen. To make the sight even more shameful to her eyes, Bonnie saw that Betty was returning the kiss instead of pulling away. Bonnie was so shocked by the sight that she ended up spilling wine right on Shego.

"Ah, damn it!" the Queen cursed loudly as the drink stained her robe and pants.

Bonnie balked as she realized what she did. In the state of barbarians and without any allies, the outraged Queen could easily kill her. She tensed at the thought and allowed herself to feel fear for the first time since she entered the Empire.

Shego looked at her cupbearer with fury in her eyes and all of the guests assumed the worst as they looked over to the scene while halting their current activities. They expected to see the legendary green blaze erupt from Shego and the end of Bonnie to follow. Shego did growl and she flexed her claws, as if she was ready to go at Bonnie like a vengeful cat. And then suddenly, laughter filled the hall.

"She got you good," Kim said while pointing at Shego and laughing her heart out.

Shego frowned. "Hey, you can't laugh at me! I'm the big sister around here!"

The pale woman grabbed Kim up and proceeded to put the redhead in a chokehold. Kim was not so drunk that she did not make moves to get out of the hold. It only took seconds for Shego to forget that Bonnie had done anything at all and they all went back to focusing on the celebration.

The party lasted through out the night, as expected. Shego left in a similar state to those closest to her, incredibly drunk; Kim and Betty were just as intoxicated, which everyone was used to. Betty was helped off by her beautiful blonde while Kim had to carry her blonde companion. The Queen also walked off with someone. Shego was looking for entertainment for when she finally made it to her bed, just like she planned to at the beginning of the feast.

* * *

Next time: Shego does some work and there's some Bonnie-torture.


	4. Flex

I don't own these characters.

4: Flex

Shego woke up with a groan as a dull ache spread through her entire being. She supposed that it was ironic since a few hours ago, she had been feeling ecstasy course through her veins. The cause of those delightful sensations was wisely gone, having been kicked out when Shego was ready for sleeping. So, she was currently alone in her cushiony bed and her body was thumping in tune with her heartbeat.

The Queen was feeling the affects of the celebration, which had ended sometime in the morning, although she had been occupied almost until the afternoon. It was the early evening now and she would have stayed in the bed if she had the time to do so. Unfortunately, she had things to tend to and she was willing to bet that she would not be able to get any help with it.

The pale woman knew that if she felt like crap, then her usual helpers were probably passed out in their beds still. Kim and Betty had to be sleeping, which meant there was no one to do her paperwork until tomorrow or maybe even the next day if Betty was in the arms of her favorite woman. She was on her own.

"Damn it…" Shego muttered as she sat up. She was not looking forward to spending the day on her own with nothing but documents.

Servants were at Shego's side as soon as she was in the sitting position. She was covered with her robe as soon as her sheet slipped from her body and then went through her usual morning ritual. She was bathed by the servants, four different people scrubbing her body. Her hair was done, combed by two other servants. Her clothing was then placed on her, her jewelry added, and her slippers put on last. She then shooed her servants away, getting annoyed with them as she typically did after a while.

Shego was an odd creature. On one hand, she enjoyed being pampered and liked having her servants and slaves wait on her. On the other hand, she liked being independent and was bothered by her servants when they did everything for her. Her servants were used to her fickle nature and actually liked it because when they were not waiting on their mistress, she really did not care what they did with their time. They were allowed to wander the palace, enjoying all of its pleasures, unless some place was marked off as only for royal usage.

She behaved in such a way due to the fact that her parents had raised her to where she was expected to take care of herself. First, her parents did expect her to be able to do anything that she asked someone else to do, including servants, and sometimes that mentality took over in her. She just suddenly needed to show that she could do things for herself quite often.

Second, her parents brought her up to rely on herself before anyone else. It was a way to show strength, which she was all about, which the Goh culture was all about. Warriors were fierce fighters, but also capable people outside of a battle. A warrior in the Empire was supposed to be able to stand on her own if necessary as a sign of power. Shego was like every other warrior, looking to show that she could stand on her own. She often just felt the need to do things for herself; it came with being brought up as an independent, practically stubborn warrior.

A wealthy warrior was allowed to be waited of, though. After all, ordering people around was also a sign of power, just like resisting could be a sign of power; it was a way to see who possessed the stronger will. So, being pampered could be seen as a strength, as long as it was done in moderation; a rare idea used in the Empire for those that could afford it.

"Bring me my work, breakfast, and cupbearer," Shego ordered a servant as she went to her throne. The servant scurried off.

Sometimes, if Kim were around, the monarch would have bothered the redhead by sending her off with those orders. For her, Kim was royalty, her little princess as she called the redhead, but then again, Kim was also her little sister and younger siblings were supposed to be pestered sometimes by older siblings. It was a privilege that came with being older.

Before sitting down, Shego went through some stretching, just for her aching joints. She hoped that she would feel better in a few hours, but she doubted that would be the case since she would be sitting for the whole time. By the time she took her seat, all of her commands were carried out.

"Oh, so barbarians don't sleep all day," Bonnie remarked snidely as she was directed to stand to the left of Shego's throne. She was dressed pretty much as she had been when she arrived, wearing a flowing tunic.

"I don't have time to bother with you right now. So, keep it up and I'll just let Kimmie tear your throat out when she's over her hangover," Shego remarked.

Bonnie sucked her teeth in an insulted manner, turning her head and rolling her eyes while she was at it to show her displeasure. Shego did not pay her hostage any mind, turning her attention to the stack of documents before her. Bonnie was actually a bit disappointed by the quiet and then she realized that Shego was doing work. Such a thing shocked the prisoner greatly, for a couple of reasons.

First off, the tanned princess was stunned to see that a barbarian could read, even if the barbarian was the Queen. She was told that barbarians had no use for learning even basic civil skills, like reading. Barbarians were only supposed to live for bloodshed and warfare, not reading and paperwork.

Then there was the fact that Bonnie was not accustomed to seeing someone work after a large celebration, especially one that had only ended hours ago. In fact, Bonnie had still been sleeping when she was called for to pour drinks for the Queen and she had not even been partying at the festival. She was rather cranky about that and getting more so when the Queen did not request anything to drink, only picking at diced fruits while grumbling to herself and going over her documents during her meal, which consisted of various foods placed in small bowls.

"What am I even here for?" Bonnie complained in a huff while folding her arms across her chest. She was not in chains like when she first arrived, which she found out last night had been a sick joke by Betty to amuse Shego. It did thoroughly entertain the Queen.

"To bitch, obviously," Shego countered without missing a beat. "Good job, keep it up," she added sarcastically.

Bonnie rolled her aqua eyes. "Like you're doing anything."

"No, I'm obviously not working as hard as you," Shego retorted.

The hostage was not used to such snappy responds to her biting comments. She was a princess, after all. Whenever she said something to someone, they were supposed to just take it. That had not happened since she got into the Goh territories. From when she was on the way there with Betty, to her being in the throne room with Kim, to now, everyone that she spoke with had something to say back to her. She was not sure exactly how she felt about it. But, a small piece of her was actually happy to have someone to talk to point blank.

"I doubt you're working at all," Bonnie finally replied.

"Not the work I'm interested in," Shego muttered. She would much rather be sparring with Kimmie or lounging about the palace with her favorite wine or playing chess with Betty.

"Oh, you want to get to picking the fleas out of your fur, huh?" the blue-eyed female stated.

"Just as much as you want to get back rolling around in filth in Middleton," the Queen countered calmly. "And just to let you know, I can do this all day. So, unless you've got a scroll under your toga with a long list of insults, stop while you're ahead," she warned the younger female.

"I don't do what monkeys tell me," Bonnie huffed, turning her chin up as if silently stating that she was better than the Queen.

"Since you know all about monkeys with that father of yours, right?" Shego replied, eyes glued to her work, but her mouth was right there with Bonnie if she wanted to keep on going.

Bonnie frowned; damn it, the damned barbarian had a smart answer for everything that she had to say. She was annoyed by that and decided to stop talking because of it. Little did she know, but that bothered Shego more than her words did.

The raven-haired warrior was happy to have a little game to play while she was doing her work, but if Bonnie was going to be silent, there was nothing to play. She frowned for a moment, irked by the quiet. But then, she got an idea. Oh, she was so wrong, her mind commented.

"I hear you Westerners eat the flesh of your dead relatives while covering yourselves in your own filth," Shego commented casually, as if that was something normal to say.

Bonnie balked at the very idea, her face twisting as if she had been stabbed in the stomach. "We'd never do something that barbaric! If anything, you Easterners probably do such practices while worshipping your false gods!" she declared.

Shego chuckled; for a lot of people, those would have been fighting words. She was not much of a religious person, considering the fact that her mixed ancestry gave her a lot of gods that she would have to worry about if she was. She mostly believed that her father protected her from any Earthly or heavenly trouble since she was doing so well when he was the only spirit that she ever sacrificed to. But, if that was the avenue that Bonnie wanted to travel, she would gladly walk down that path to do some bickering.

"My gods certainly seem to have gotten the better of yours not too long ago in the past," the green-skinned woman remarked.

Bonnie once again looked offended, being thwarted by the smartass Queen. She ground her teeth together for a moment from her fury with the fact that she had been one-upped yet again. She even considered that Shego might be right for just a second since Shego had come out of the encounter with Middleton better than the city did. But, she dismissed that, figuring that the Middleton gods were going to come through in the end as they always did.

Shego could not help laughing internally as she looked out of the corner of her eye to see her hostage's expression. The little princess was too easy, she thought. It was fun getting a rise out of her though, and Shego planned to keep it up while she had work and no one around to do it for her. She waited patiently for Bonnie's inevitable comeback.

"You just have wicked spirits on your side," Bonnie hissed.

"Either way, they whipped your side's ass," the older female shot back immediately.

The aqua-eyed female huffed and folded her arms across her chest in anger. She was done for the moment. She actually had nothing to say, which was probably a first for her and Shego did not like that. The pale woman spent the rest of her time goading Bonnie back into verbal spats through the day. The prisoner rose to the occasion each and every time only to be knocked down by the Queen.

It was through those arguments that Bonnie's ideas that Shego was nothing more than an uncouth barbarian were reinforced for her. Shego did not act like any queen Bonnie had ever met, seen, or heard about, although she admittedly had not met or seen many queens. Shego acted like some vulgar commoner in Bonnie's opinion, which to her was not something that should be suitable or acceptable for a ruler.

A monarch was supposed to act civilized, which Bonnie did not think that Shego was doing because of the things that she said. First, there was the fact that Shego used profanity, which was inappropriate for royalty in Bonnie's opinion; it was something that she had been taught by tutors since she was little and they were trying to bring her up to be a lady. Second, Shego just said outrageous things altogether, things that no respectable person would or should say. Bonnie could not imagine any noble or diplomat coming to her father's manor and saying such things in front of him, as he would never say such things in front of them. And despite the fact that her father was a jerk, she guessed that he was a good ruler since she rarely heard people complain about him.

Added to Shego's mouth, there was also the partying that she had done at the celebration. Bonnie thought that the Queen's manner at the feast was borderline disgusting. She was doing all of that drinking, gambling, and yelling. Shego was just an all-round strange ruler.

While thinking all of that though, Bonnie did note that Shego was taking care of her work. Part of her did not want to believe that Shego was actually doing any kind of work or was at the most doing something that was probably pointless. It was not until Shego started calling for people did Bonnie see that the ruler was doing serious work in between getting into petty arguments with the cup-bearer. It was then that Bonnie witnessed Shego discussing important matters with people that had to do with the care of the country and the people.

Shego yawned as the last person that she needed to speak with left the hall. "So, how about we get some supper?" she suggested.

Bonnie was confused because she was the only person around. Was Shego suggesting that they eat together? What the hell was wrong with this woman, Bonnie wondered. Royalty did not eat with people that were deemed servants.

"Hey, you here or what?" Shego inquired, shoving her cupbearer with her toes.

"Don't push me, barbarian!" Bonnie barked, which only earned her a laugh and another offer for dinner by the Queen.

"You're definitely eating with me," Shego said with a smile.

Bonnie was very baffled by the monarch and thought that maybe it was some barbarian custom where the upper class just sat with their servants. How uncivilized, she thought. Despite the fact that she thought it was unsophisticated for royalty to eat with dubbed servants, she sat with Shego. But, she was internally insulted with sharing a feast with the Queen since she saw Shego as a barbarian, thus seeing the Queen as someone lower than she was.

"Hmm…" Shego looked around at the banquet before her and Bonnie. She then laughed and turned to her guest. "I guess you'll be pouring wine for the both of us," the Queen commented.

"What!" Bonnie shouted in an outrage. She hit the table with her small fist and barely shook the dishes near her.

Shego had to fight the urge not laugh over those actions. She shrugged. "Hey, you're the cup-bearer so it is your job to pour."

Little did Bonnie know, but she was experiencing behavior that was very common for the Queen. The servants that were around, straightening things up for the meal recognized it and could only wonder if the behavior was going to lead to the place that it had on a couple of occasions. What did the Queen see in the little barbarian princess, they wondered.

If Shego knew what her servants were thinking, she would have corrected them for having such silly ideas. She just found Bonnie to be very entertaining. There was nothing deeper to it than that as far as the green-skinned monarch was concerned.

"I'm not pouring wine for you when you've got over a dozen people here to do it for you!" Bonnie objected. How could Shego invite her to sit down like a guest and then treat her like a slave? What kind of barbarian act was that? She just could not stand for it.

"Oh, no? Then get up from my table," Shego ordered quite seriously.

Bonnie frowned; what was this? She was invited one second, scorned the next. The Queen was toying with her, she figured. Well, she was not going to be some plaything to a backwards false-ruler like Shego. So, she removed herself from Shego's table and resumed her new job as cupbearer during the meal.

Shego leaned back in her seat; she had actually moved from her throne to have dinner with Bonnie. It would seem that her move was pointless now. She did not mind; the newcomer deeply entertained her.

Throughout supper, Shego tormented Bonnie by motioning for her cup to be filled, even when it was full. Bonnie scowled each time the motion was made; she had learned that a flick of Shego's wrist meant that she wanted more drink from the party last night. The motion did make her think of the party.

Bonnie bet that bacchanal of a celebration was typical court behavior for the barbarian Easterners that she was being forced to stay with. It would probably happen again soon, once most of them recovered from their drunken stupor and forced gluttony of the previous night. They were such disgusting beasts, she thought.

A day later, Bonnie's theory was not proven correct. Shego was back to work, having Bonnie at her side again from when she woke up, which was thankfully after having a full night's sleep that time. The only thing that was repeated from the night of the party was that Kim showed up.

The redhead frowned when she caught sight of Bonnie, which was not missed by Shego. It might turn out to be another fun day if she could get Kim and Bonnie going, the ruler thought. Wicked idea, in more than one way; yes, she knew that. Shego just did not care.

"Hey, Kimmie," Shego greeted her adopted little sister as Kim made her usual entrance, which involved her dropping down from the vaulted ceilings. Kim was probably a spider in a past life, the Queen thought.

"More paperwork?" Kim groaned when she saw what Shego was doing. She settled in, sitting next to the emerald-eyed warrior.

"Yeah, apparently while we were gone, the regent didn't do his job, so a lot of things have gone to Hell," Shego replied.

"I told you just leave Nana as regent this time around," the redhead argued, moving her hands to emphasis her point.

"Last time I left your nana as regent I came back to being scolded like the old bat was my nana," the Queen retorted with a scoff. She had little desire to come home after months of warring to be screamed at by Kim's grandmother over the state of the province. That woman was freaking nuts!

"She did a good job, though. You didn't come home to all this paperwork and we could be sparring right now," Kim pointed out while gesturing to all of the documents with disgust.

"Dear lord, I need to find you a war before you drive me out of my mind. This winter isn't going to be fun if you keep coming here whining about how I can't play with you. Where's the buffoon?" Shego inquired with a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"Sleeping it off and don't call him that," Kim replied.

"Sleeping it off? Still? Oh, the idiot was hitting your bit of the wine, huh?" Shego asked with a laugh.

Kim did not have to answer that one. Hanging out with Shego and Betty, Kim had come to hold her wine a bit better than most despite her petite size. Ron was not quite on her level and was known to stay in bed for up to three days if he imbibed anything that Kim was drinking. It amused Shego and Betty to no end that Ron could not keep up with Kim when it came to wine.

"Well, how long are you going to be stuck doing actual work?" Kim asked curiously.

"Probably until Director recovers and after seeing her at the celebration, who knows how long that might take. But, since you're here…" Shego said.

Kim groaned, knowing where that was going already. She grabbed a handful of documents before Shego even finished voicing her plan. Shego smiled, wanting the work to be over as soon as possible and she knew that would happen with Kim. Now that that was going, the pale woman decided on starting some mischief too. She wondered if Bonnie would get that angry rise out of her adopted sister again.

"So, Kimmie…" Shego practically purred, emphasizing the little pet name to make sure it reached the redhead's ears as to what she just called her.

"Shego, stop calling me that in front of servants and…_lessers_," Kim commented while casting a glare at Bonnie and that started just what Shego was looking for.

"Lesser? You're the ape around here, coming in from the ceiling like some kind of animal," Bonnie countered. She was surprised that the people in the Goh Empire did not drag their knuckles as they walked considering the antics that she had seen being there all of three days.

"Ape?" Kim shouted in an outrage. "You're nothing more than a pawn in a game your jerk of a father's playing anyway!"

Whoa, that was a low blow, Shego thought. It was more something that she would say than her adopted sister would. That just showed her that Bonnie so easily could get a charge out of Kim. Shego could only wonder why that was, but guessed it had to do with the fact that they were in the same age; she knew both girls' ages. But then again, she had seen her little princess get along with other people her age. Those people just did not go after Kim like Bonnie was doing.

"At least my father's not some monkey," Bonnie shot back.

"I don't know. I think I saw a tail," Kim remarked with a smug look on her face.

"It was probably your own," the tanned teen quipped, looking quite haughty too.

"Look, just because you Westerners have tails, don't try to put that on us," Kim retorted.

"I call them how I see them. You're the one dropping down from the ceiling like a little monkey. Why don't you go back to the wild?"

The redhead started getting scarlet in her face. Apparently she was getting mad to the point that her blood was rushing to her face. It was a new and intriguing thing as far as Shego was concerned. The Queen actually just sat back and watched the verbal carnage as it escalated from a spat to something that Shego had only read about in epic poems. She ended up having to hold Kim back as the redhead tried to dive on Bonnie after about thirty minutes of arguing.

"Lemme go! I'll show her who's uncivilized!" Kim hollered while trying to tear her way off of the throne to get down to Bonnie's level.

"Yeah, by shedding her blood in the throne room?" Shego commented dryly.

Kim could see her adopted big sister's point and decided to just resent the hell out of things while calming down. She angrily folded her arms across her chest while turning her attention back to the royal documents. Shego glanced at the redhead and then glanced down at Bonnie. She noticed a satisfied smirk on Bonnie's face; apparently, the hostage had gotten a kick out of getting a rise out of Kimmie. Shego actually smiled a bit too, having Bonnie around was proving quite fun.

Bonnie did not see the fun in things. She was far away from home in another country that might as well be another planet from the way that everyone was acting in her opinion. Everything seemed so backwards to her, but it was amazing that she was not as unsettled by it all as she thought that she would be. She did not understand why that was. It was a complete mystery to her.

The foreigner had expected to be so shocked by the Goh Empire and its barbarian citizens that she would be angry beyond explanation, like she had been when her father first told her that she was going to be a goodwill hostage. She was calmer now than she was back at Middleton. She was practically her normal self in the Goh court. She tried to explain it away by telling herself that it was because she was just glad to be away from her father.

Bonnie had been so upset with the governor of Middleton when she learned that she was going to be collateral until he could pay off Shego the amount of gold that she requested that a vein had bulged out of her forehead as she let her father have it verbally for the first time in her life. He merely returned her yelling with his own and she was glad to not have to be near him since then. He could have sent her to the bottom of the sea and she was sure that she could have been happier there than at home for the moment. She figured that her mood and thoughts would change soon because it could not be normal for her to not be more outraged with her current situation than she was.

Despite the fact that Bonnie was indeed a prisoner and had the misfortune, in her opinion anyway, of being made a servant, she would admit that she was not being treated poorly when she was not acting as Shego's cupbearer. It was only something that further made her believe that something was wrong with the Queen, though. Shego did not seem mentally right just from the warm and cold way that she was treating Bonnie.

As far as Bonnie knew, Shego had been the one that had her brought in like a prisoner with the shackles made of gold; it was actually just a joke that Betty pulled out of boredom. And then Shego announced that she was going to be the royal cupbearer, which was crazy going down two different roads. First off, it made Bonnie a servant when she was not supposed to be one. A goodwill hostage was supposed to be treated like a member of the royal family as far as she knew, but Shego seemed to be following a different set of rules.

Second off, Bonnie still did not understand how she had gotten a job that should have gone to someone utterly trustworthy. She was a foreigner and the daughter of a potential enemy. She could slip something into the Queen's wine and that could be the end of matters. What was Shego thinking giving her such a job? Little did she know, but that was a question on many, many people's minds, except for those closest to Shego because they just did not question how the Queen's mind worked.

Aside for that, Bonnie had to admit that so far life in the Goh Empire had not been bad for her, even though she had only been there for three days. She had been given lush apartments in the palace that were not too far from the throne room. She had four whole, huge rooms to herself and there were servants that wandered in and out of the place. She was allowed to treat those servants as her own.

Servants brought Bonnie her meals in her rooms since she just poured wine for Shego during meals. They dressed her as best they could in the morning. Bonnie brought her traditional clothing from Middleton and the servants were not quite sure how to put the garments on yet. Bonnie got annoyed with them and yelled at them over it the past few days. She was just used to her servants at home, but luckily she was not hotheaded enough to strike one of the servants. Shego would not have taken kindly to that, not that Bonnie knew that. Bonnie just had not hit anyone because no matter how angry she typically got, it never did occur to her to lash out at someone physically.

Comparing her rooms in the Goh Empire to the ones that she had in Middleton was a bit difficult for Bonnie. She was used to there being tiles on the floor, but in personal rooms in the Shego's palace, there were thin rugs on the floor. The rugs had vivid scenes weaved into them, which did not bother Bonnie much since she was used to seeing pictures on floors, walls, ceilings or anywhere else an artist might suddenly feel the urge to mark.

There were nowhere near as many couches around as Bonnie was used to and the ones that were around were shorter and smaller than she was used to. She noticed that Goh citizens mostly sat on pillows, which she thought was odd. The mattress on her bed was even like a giant pillow, which she would actually admit was more comfortable than what she was used to.

Oddly enough, the little differences did not spark homesickness in her. Once again, Bonnie just figured that it was because she was so upset with her father. She wondered what she was going to do once reality hit her and her anger abandoned her. She promised herself that she would not have a breakdown. She would not give the barbarians such satisfaction.

* * *

Shego fell onto her bed, after getting another day of work out of the way. She figured that given another few days, she would be able to play. If Betty made her way back to the palace sometime soon, she would be able to play while leaving everything to the insane brunette. At least while she worked, she had Bonnie to entertain her.

"She's a funny little thing, especially the way she gets a rise out of Kimmie like that. Maybe two princesses just can't occupy the same space at the same time," Shego remarked to herself while turning in her bed.

Bonnie sure was something else. The tanned young woman did not seem to meet an argument that she did not like. Because of that, Bonnie seemed to be quite fearless. She did not care that Kim tried to come at her, looking for blood. Shego did take into account that could have had something to do with the fact that Bonnie really had no clue what Kim could do to a person with proper motivation. She would still say that Bonnie was fearless because the hostage did try to go at it verbally with her, even though she practically held Bonnie's fate in the palm of her hand.

The foreigner had some pride to her too that she did not seem to be willing to compromise. She understood survival, which was why she obeyed being Shego's cupbearer, the Queen guessed, but she did not seem willing to go further than that. She carried that pride with her, even when acting as cupbearer.

Shego was also impressed with the fact that Bonnie had not freaked out in any visible way since arriving in the Goh Empire. She was in an alien land surrounded by strangers and she did not seem affected by it at all. Bonnie had a strong will from what Shego could tell, which was something that played well with her.

"I wonder how strong that little will is. I guess I'll have to see," the monarch muttered to herself.

The Queen closed her eyes and smiled. So far, she liked having Bonnie around. She was sure that she would have liked the gold that she wanted more, but having Bonnie around so far was fun. Bonnie just gave her a new way to entertain herself.

* * *

Next time: Bonnie hangs out with Shego and Kim, and then hangs out with just Shego.

A/N: The thought of the Goh Empire having a warrior culture was inspired by ancient Sparta, although Spartan culture was totally, utterly, and completely different from what I described with the Goh culture.


	5. In hot water

I don't own these characters.

A/N: I meant to do this earlier; I wanted to apologize for the OOC-ness of the story. Sorry about it.

5: In hot water

Bonnie could not believe it, but Shego was doing work yet again. The barbarians had not had a party since she got there, which was over a week ago. Bonnie thought that they would be throwing wild, insane, disgusting bacchanals everyday, but so far she was wrong. All Shego did was tend to royal matters while getting her adopted little sister to help with seemingly false promises of sparring. Kim was gullible enough to believe the Queen as far as Bonnie was concerned.

The hostage was curious as to what Shego meant by "sparring" when she told Kim the lie that they were going to spar. Bonnie had a vague notion that gladiators and warriors sparred with each other, but she was not totally sure what it involved. She did not see why a monarch and her sister would want to engage in such an activity, but then again, they were barbarians. Barbarians were just backwards in Bonnie's opinion.

"Hey, Queen of Darkness!" a newcomer to royal business, as far as Bonnie was concerned, called from the front of the throne room. Shouting in the royal presence was just another backwards thing that barbarians did in the prisoner's opinion.

The three women at the back of the room turned their attention to see Betty Director walking toward them. Shego expected to hear heavenly music when Betty came into the room and the Queen had to fight the urge to grin. She was about to be free!

"That randy female of yours finally released you?" Shego called to Betty as the general made it to the throne.

Bonnie flinched at that question, remembering what she had witnessed at the party when she first showed up. How could Shego mention such a thing so casually, the hostage wondered. She looked up at Shego and Kim for some reaction, but Kim did not even look up from her documents while Shego only appeared amused. That ended up perplexing Bonnie more. What was wrong with these people, Bonnie wondered; it was a question that entered her mind everyday since staying at the Goh palace.

It was just an all-around strange place. So many people seemed so familiar with the Queen, even though she was royalty. The Queen herself acted like a barmaid. Her sister acted like a monkey. The general seemed to be interested in women while being a woman herself and no one seemed to think anything of it. The servants came and went as they pleased more often than not without anyone reprimanding them. There was also the fact that women seemed to completely run the territory, which was something totally foreign to Bonnie. Now, she knew that there were men around, but they did not seem to hold any of the positions that she would have assumed they would, like second-in-command of the army.

Betty chuckled and fanned herself with her hand. "That little vixen," she muttered with a dazed smile.

"You're probably going to run back to her the first chance you get. How the hell did you escape anyway?" Shego inquired. Usually, Betty was trapped underneath her woman for at least ten days when they arrived back home and the one-eyed woman never honestly tried to get away.

"Kim's father came, in need of her, thus liberating me," Betty answered with a grin while she wiped her forehead in an exaggerated gesture of being overworked. She appeared rather happy for someone that was overworked.

"Your father recruited Vivian?" Shego said, turning to Kim.

"That is going to be one seriously effective siege machine when they're done," Kim commented, almost as if she was in awe of such a thing.

"Hell, yeah," the Queen muttered in agreement. Her top engineers working on a siege machine had to mean that it was going to be one hell of a siege machine.

Bonnie was rather confused by the exchange. She decided not to think too much on it for the moment. It might make sense of itself if she continued to listen in, not that she thought what she was doing was rude or anything. They were right there and she did not have anything better to do. It was not like Shego drank heavy amounts of anything while she was working, so she did not have anything to pour.

"Yes, apparently, I can't compete with her urge to build cruel and destructive weapons of war," Betty remarked, faking a pout as she stood a bit close to the throne to converse with her friends.

"It probably has something to with her not wanting you to lose your good eye," Shego remarked.

"Like hell that would happen," Betty scoffed, folding her arms across her chest and looking away for a moment to show how skeptical she was that she would ever be injured in such a way again.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, since you're free, how about you lend a hand, so I can get the hell out of here and beat Kimmie up for a few hours?" Shego suggested.

"Lend a hand? Oh, you mean run the kingdom," the one-eyed female commented with a teasing smile.

"Doing some paperwork doesn't mean you're running the kingdom," the green-skinned woman replied quite seriously.

"I don't see it that way," Betty replied with a smartass glint in her onyx-eye.

"Will you just take care of this so I can go kick Princess' butt before she bursts?" Shego inquired in an annoyed tone.

"Kick my butt?" Kim practically shrieked with indignation while turning to her adopted sister with fury in her olive eyes.

"Yes, kick your butt. It's something that I do when we spar. I know you forget it a lot since I knock you unconscious most of the time," Shego teased.

"I'll take care of it. You two nutty kids get going," Betty declared while rubbing her hands together in anticipation. She actually wanted to get through whatever paperwork Shego had left. She would have been there earlier to do it, but her wily blonde took first place on her "to do" list when she arrived home and she would not have things any other way.

"Yes!" Kim cheered because she really wanted to spar. It was her way of staying at the top of her game through out the winter. She had seen more soldiers than she liked growing fat and lazy when they came home for a season. She never wanted that to be her. Besides, it was also a way to get away from her insane grandmother, who trained her in fighting, but also in etiquette. Her grandmother was just not the most fun teacher when it came to etiquette.

"All right. Here you go," Shego said, pushing a bunch of scrolls and documents in Betty's direction.

"No, don't—" the one-eyed woman tried to object to the Queen's behavior, but that did not stop Shego.

The pale woman pushed all of the things off of the risen platform of the throne and they landed on the floor. Betty sighed, sounding annoyed, and she shook her head at the Queen's immature behavior. She bent down to pick everything up while Shego hollered for servants to set Betty up in her usual work position.

"Well, let's get going, Princess," Shego said while climbing to her feet. Kim followed her example.

The royal pair hopped down from the throne and began to take their leave. Shego stopped for a moment and then turned around to Bonnie. She motioned with her hand for the hostage to come along. Bonnie was surprised by that and did not move fast enough for the Queen's taste.

"Bring your ass, girl," Shego called, sounding more like a crude soldier than the supreme ruler of the land.

Bonnie, not used to being beckoned in such a crass manner, stiffened for a moment from discomfort. She got over her shock after a few seconds and then trotted over to Shego and her adopted little sister. Kim turned around in time to see that Bonnie was joining them.

"Oh, no! We don't need her along!" the redhead objected.

"We might get thirsty," Shego remarked with a laugh. Actually, she just wanted Bonnie along to tease Kim. She figured that Bonnie would be great entertainment, as she had been since the day that she arrived.

"We're not going to drink wine while sparring," the slender princess pointed out while casting Bonnie a venomous glare. Bonnie sucked her teeth and returned the look with more disdain than Kim could probably imagine mustering. See, they were proving entertaining already, Shego thought.

"She's a cupbearer, not a wine cupbearer," the pale woman argued nonchalantly. She was hiding the fact that the pair amused her quite a bit.

"We don't need a cupbearer! We've got barrels," Kim stated harshly.

Shego made a mocking gesture with her hand indicating that Kim talked too much. The redhead snorted, making a noise that was very un-princess-like. Bonnie did not say anything back because she had no idea what was going on. She did wonder what all the talk of sparring was about since Shego had been promising Kim that for the past few days to get her to do paperwork. Bonnie wanted to see what was so great about the activity since she was not totally sure what it was.

The foreign princess was sheltered back in Middleton, so that was why she did not known exactly how sparring went. She had mostly heard people talking about in passing through the manor when she was living there and they did not say much. She gathered that it had something to do with fighting since it came up when discussing gladiators and warriors. She could not figure out what why two females would want to do such a thing, but then again, they were barbarians.

Bonnie did note that the sights that they passed as they walked on. They went through a few halls and then through a lush garden full of flowers, green things, and fountains. It was a wonderful space, much larger than the gardens at her home and Bonnie actually would have liked to explore it more thoroughly. Unfortunately, Kim and Shego hurried through the garden like they did many other places, making their way down to the lower levels of the palace.

As they went through the palace, Bonnie was able to take in just how different the place was from her home. There were more open halls, which was where they mostly traveled through. The ceilings were all higher than Bonnie even thought possible. Just about the only thing that seemed familiar to Bonnie was the fact that almost every wall that she passed had an image of some kind painted on it.

She was certain that if she was on her own, she would have gotten lost in the palace for the rest of her life. The place just seemed like it just went on forever. The Queen and Kim seemed to have no problem navigating around, but that made sense since they did live there. There were quite a few other things about the place that was very different from her home.

She could hear the weird sounds of children laughing in the distance, running around. She did not know what to make of that; it had to do with the fact that some of Shego's servants had children and like everyone else in the palace, when the kids did not have anything to do, they did whatever they wanted. Mixed in the children's din were conversations between adults, some servants and others members of the royal court. Aside for the assault on her ears, there were different smells hitting her nose. There was food and flowers wafting through the air, not mingling enough to smell terrible, although she did not like the scent of the food.

Strange, but there were not many guards about the halls as they traveled, she noted. The ones that were there did not seem to be paying too much attention to anything. A few of them were playing with some of the children in a garden. There were also some children playing around on the many lion statues that were around the palace.

"Hey, you brats, get the hell off of that thing!" Shego hollered across the garden and the children immediately recognized the voice. They shattered before they even caught sight of the Queen. She chuckled a bit.

"You are so mean," Kim commented with a teasing smile.

"Those little brats. If they break one of those statues, I'm going to fry them and their parents," Shego huffed.

"I know," Kim replied. The lion statues that were decorated around the palace were very special to Shego since the lion was the animal that represented her father. The statues were also made by a very talented and special artist that lived back in the original territory of the Goh Empire, so it was not like she could just get one fixed with no problem if those kids did damage one.

The lion statues were not the only ones around. There were statues of Shego and also a few statues of Kim; hey, Shego had a very soft spot for her crazy adopted sister. The grandest statues in the whole palace though could be found in the most lush, most beautiful garden and it was actually of Shego's parents. It was sort of hidden away behind some lovely trees and flowers because Shego did not want her mother to see if she ever happened to visit.

There were other animal statues. Shego claimed the dragon as her own personal symbol, so there were some dragon statues around. All of the statues around the place were very detailed and many of them were decorated with precious jewels and expensive metals.

Shego looked over to make sure the kids were gone completely. Sometimes, she thought that the palace was just too open, even though she knew that most of those kids lived in the palace since they were the offspring of servants and employees. She decided to dismiss their bad actions from her mind and think about just what the kids were thinking of, namely having fun. They continued on their way, going deeper into the palace.

Bonnie could only wonder why they were going to the lower levels. In Middleton, they kept slaves on the lower levels of the palace and the royal family never ventured down there. She had yet to figure out where the servants and slaves were kept in Shego's palace and she really did not care since she knew that she was not in the servants' quarters.

Bonnie was quite surprised when they came down to a room that was covered in white sand as far as the floor was concerned. The room was devoid since it was one of the few rooms that only the Queen and her sister were allowed in. There were some barrels by each wall, which were filled with fresh water. It was rather large room, over fifty square feet. It was a closed off room, but there were some openings to let air in. The walls were bare and very light color to reflect light from outside, which worked wonders as the room was brilliantly lit while the sun was up. Since winter was approaching, it was a bit cold in there; Bonnie felt the chill the worst. Shego could warm her body at will and Kim knew that they were about to be moving, so she did not worry about the cold.

"You do realize that all this time you've been dying to spar and now you're actually going to be dying," Shego remarked, speaking to Kim while yanking her slippers off of her feet.

"You talk a big game, but you're taking quite a bit of time getting out of all that junk," Kim countered as she stepped into the middle of the room.

Shego rolled her eyes; she did have a lot of things that she had to remove. Kim did have to take some time in tying her pants a bit more about her legs with some wraps that she was carrying for just such an occasion. She knew from the past that Shego had no problem tearing through her clothing, which was something to be expected anyway. With the way they went at it, Betty often suggested that they do like other athletes and compete naked. It would save them a lot of clothes and jewelry. Kim might have gone along with that if only Ron was not so adamant in his objection to Kim being nude in the Queen's presence alone, not that Shego was aware of that.

"What are you two doing?" Bonnie asked curiously because she was totally confused as the sisters started taking things off. She was standing by the entrance of the room, but off to the side of it because she did not know where else to stand.

"Just watch and see," Shego answered while stripping off her outer robe and then took off her form-fitting shirt. She was a couple of feet from Kim.

Bonnie wondered what the two women were about to do that required the Queen to strip. Nothing in her mind was matching an activity between two females that should involve clothing being removed, especially by the Queen. Bonnie was baffled and wondered if she was about to see something unsavory. She was thankful that she was by the door if that was the case because she was going to leave if the sisters ended up doing something distasteful.

Shego had plenty of jewelry that she needed to remove while Kim finished wrapping her pants, tightening them all the way up to her knees. Shego was down to black cloth that was wrapped around her breasts, but her stomach and shoulders were bare. Kim took off her top shirt, showing that she had on a sleeveless shirt on underneath that, which she kept on.

"You're too slow, Princess!" Shego declared as she charged the redhead while she was still pulling her shirt off.

The younger warrior yelped and flipped back to avoid getting slashed by Shego's claw-like nails. Shego tore through the shirt, which shocked Bonnie. That could have been the Queen's sister, Bonnie realized as she watched the shredded cloth flutter down to the sand. The hostage's heart sped up from anxiety and fear, feeling that the Queen was attempting to kill her little sister.

Bonnie began to think that if Shego had no problem almost trying to kill her sister then the Queen would have no qualms with killing her. She also began to realize that what she was witnessing was what Kim had practically been begging for. Kim wanted Shego to come at her with murderous intent. Why? Barbarians were mad! It was the only way that Bonnie could explain it because she knew that such a thing would never happen in Middleton.

"Oh, you're such a cheater!" Kim accused the ruler while gathering herself into a defensive stance as Shego came at her again.

"Ambush is all part of a winning strategy!" Shego replied as she missed a second time.

Bonnie stood in disbelief, frozen in her place, as the pair began to fight. They fought in a manner that she had never seen. It was almost like they were dancing together and the more that she watched, the more that she felt like it was not murderous intent that they were going at each other with. Things seemed almost playful in a way, which was probably supported by the fact that the sisters were smiling as they went at each other. Their movements were in sync, even though they were different. It was entrancing, watching their muscular forms flow toward and away from each other. It was amazing.

Before getting too drawn into the dance-like battle, Bonnie did continue wonder why the two proclaimed sisters were physically fighting for no reason. Not just for no reason, but it was actually planned and seemed to be something both sisters wanted. Bonnie could not connect to something like that, even though she had sisters. Her sisters were evil as far as she was concerned; bitter harpies that got joy out of life in making her feel worthless, much like her father made her feel by sending her away. She did not want to think about that, so she decided to focus on the pair before her.

Now, Bonnie did not know that Shego and Kim were actually not blood-relatives at all, so it bothered her greatly to see the sisters going after each other, hitting each other, bruising each other as they were. She felt a bit more at ease now that it seemed like they were not really looking to kill each other, but they did seem to be looking to hurt each other if a blow landed. She even winced every now and then when a hit landed on one of the opponents. Despite that, she did silently admit that the way they moved was borderline beautiful, even if it was violent. It was just the non-brutal appearing form of violence.

The best that Bonnie could do with the strange behavior was to chalk it up to some barbarian custom. The Gohs were savages that loved to war as far as she knew, so it explained why the sisters were going after each other and looking so happy while doing so. Even though she associated what was going on with barbarian behavior and believed herself to be quite civilized, she watched them the whole time. She slowly lost her fear and anxiety of the combat, but she still winced every now and then when a hit connected.

Bonnie was not used to hearing the noise of knuckles impacting flesh. The sound was a bit disturbing for her, but she seemed to be the only one that it bothered. The other two people in the room continued to smile as they moved against each other. They did not seem affected by the blows or anything. Bonnie guessed that those muscles that they were sporting acted as armor against the assaults.

Kim and Shego had no problem, it seemed, fighting non-stop for over two hours, working up quite the sweat. They had not sparred in weeks; the last battle that they had had been in between battles out on their last campaign. It did not seem like it had been weeks, though. They fought each other as if it had been only a few hours ago since they last engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

There things that Bonnie did not notice about the fighting that the two warriors did note. They could tell when they were close to hitting each other, but the blow was slightly mistimed, which was something that happened often. They knew immediately when they made mistakes, even if those miscues did not interrupt the river-like flow of their "dance." Their eyes communicated with each other, just like their mouths, taunting and teasing as usual. But, their eyes also let loose some admiration and being impressed with each other because they could both tell that they were improving; their mouths would never let such information slip. It felt good to move as they were and they kept it up for as long as possible.

By the time the pair was done, it was only due to exhaustion. They were slouched over, hands held up weakly in case the other got an idea for a last ditch effort to win. They were breathing like they had been drowning but managed to make it to the surface. They were also sweating, bodies glistening from the moisture and clothing darkened from the sweat. They eyed each other with caution as they inched away from each other, making their way over to small water barrels. Green did not leave green until they both had water in hand, contained in deep ladles, and they were drinking. The cool, pure water felt good for both of them. Once they quenched their thirst, they were able to rejoin the real world.

"Oh, that was great," Shego said with a half-smile and a chuckle.

"I've been dying for that since we got here," Kim replied while gulping down some more water. She was practically grinning and beaming with joy.

"You're such a little demon," Shego remarked because of Kim's desire to fight. She knew the younger warrior liked doing a lot of things, but fighting seemed to be Kim's first passion. Well, maybe her second, considering her loyalty to her buffoon, Shego thought.

"To follow a devil like you, I've got to be something, huh?" the redhead countered with a laugh.

Shego smiled; she loved their little banter that came along with sparring. Kim enjoyed it too, which was why they both ran their mouths non-stop while fighting each other. Many people noticed that there was a type of conversation or dialogue that endeared people to the Queen. The problem was that not many people would dare chancing such dialogue with her for the simple fact that she might not be in the proper mood for it, thus the person would incur her wrath.

"Want to go for a swim now?" Shego proposed, still smiling. She was ready for some fun now that she had the free time and Kim had gotten her started with all of the fighting.

Kim thought on it for a moment while pouring some water on her head, even though she knew that she was going to regret that on her way home. She was not supposed to bathe with Shego unless someone else was around and that someone was not a servant; it was another one of Ron's little rules. He was not as oblivious as Shego and others would like to think. Well, since no one else was around, Kim guessed that she was not going to be swimming with the Queen.

"I need to get home while my blood is still pumping and the cold won't bother me as much," Kim replied.

"Ah, you should just stay here tonight. That way we could spar again in a few hours," Shego suggested. They would be sparring by torch light if that was the case, but it certainly would not be the first time that they did that. It would be fun, like sparring always was.

"That would be nice if I didn't promise my nana I'd come back to study some epic poems," Kim grumbled. She did have to get to that sometime soon before her grandmother talked her ear off about it. Being a noble was so annoying sometimes, she thought.

Shego laughed a bit; it was an acceptable excuse. "She's going to eat you alive one day soon," she remarked.

"I wish she'd do it soon and stop making me wonder when," the redhead quipped with a sigh.

"Ah well, off with you, Kimmie," Shego pretended to shoo her little sister away.

Kim bristled at the pet name. "Shego!" she howled her complaint.

The Queen chuckled, knowing that Kim was wailing because of the nickname being used in front of Bonnie, who they had not forgotten was in the room despite the fact that it seemed otherwise. Kim left the room with a scowl on her face, which only tickled the green-skinned woman more. Bonnie too was a bit amused by that and could not help smiling, which Shego took notice of. The Queen smiled a bit herself.

"Well, it's just you and me," Shego said, obviously speaking to Bonnie since she was the only person around. "I'm going for a bath. I guess you can come," she sort of invited her hostage. Bonnie was a bit surprised to find that Shego did recall that she was in the room since the monarch and Kim had seemed to be in their own world when they were battling each other.

Shego walked off, leaving her clothing and jewelry right in the sparring room. Bonnie looked at the pile of things before following the ruler out. She could only wonder why Shego was inviting her everywhere, but in the back of her mind, she did note that she was not used to such attention from someone that she could not order around. No one at Bonnie's home pulled her around some many places in such a short time, although she had to admit that Shego was not taking her anywhere that she cared to be.

They walked down a long hall that was like the other halls that they had been through and they went level below where they came into a giant hall that had several small baths and one large bath. Shego wasted no time getting out of the few items that she still had on and she sank into the water of the closest bath. Bonnie only stood there, not sure what she should do.

Honestly, Bonnie was still a bit scared after witnessing Shego and Kim battle. A part of her now realized that if she angered Shego, the Queen could probably easily tear her apart with her bare hands, especially with those claw-like nails of hers. She tried to ignore that fear because she liked to believe herself to be a brave individual, no matter what the circumstances. She had to be brave, after all; she had come alone into the Goh Empire.

"Come on in. It'll take the chill away from you, not that you feel it anymore in here," Shego remarked. Since the hall was covered with hot springs, it was more like a sauna in there than the chill that existed in the sparring room.

Bonnie was taken aback by that; there went some more of Shego's spontaneous, weird kindness. She did not know what to make of it. Most people probably would have told her not to think on it. They would have assured her that Shego was just impulsive, but that was actually not the case. It was more an excuse to explain away when Shego did things that were disapproving or nerve-racking.

"Come on, I don't bite…often," Shego remarked with a predatory type smirk. She beckoned the cupbearer into the water with a motion of her hand.

Bonnie gulped, her fear creeping out of its hole for a moment. She then steeled herself and decided to meet Shego's challenge. She reached for the golden clasps on her tunic, detaching the cloth from her body. Shego sat back against the carved benches around the bath and watched, which kind of made Bonnie a bit uncomfortable, but she ignored that. Bonnie sank into the water and then practically jumped out. Shego laughed, while mentally deciding that she liked the bouncing that went on when her hostage leaped out of the water.

"Yeah, it's really hot," the pale woman commented in passing.

"You could've warned me!" Bonnie barked heatedly.

"I did just now," Shego pointed out with an amused smile on her.

Bonnie only snorted in anger as she eased into the water. She did not go in too deep yet because of the heat coming from the liquid. She ended up sitting on one of the carved stone steps, submerging her lower half. And a lovely lower half it was, Shego silently noted.

Shego did take in her guest while Bonnie was trying to adjust to the hot water. She had expected a different body type underneath that tunic. Now that she saw Bonnie, she could see that the younger female was actually built like her, Kim, and Betty. The slender, close to muscular body was surprising and Shego figured that she was going to have to get the story behind that. She did not expect a muscular woman from the West.

Aside for the body type, Shego took in the rest of her prisoner's sleek form. Her tanned flesh looked…tempting, damn near tasty. She bet that skin was smooth to the touch, like the finest silk. She decided that she had a fine looking little cupbearer.

Bonnie finally got used to the water and noticed the Queen looking at her again. She frowned, thinking that the attention was from something negative. She folded her arms over her chest and crossed her legs while turning to the side, as if that would hide her from Shego. The raven-haired woman could not help chuckling from that action, which only bothered Bonnie more.

"What! I know I'm skinny, okay?" Bonnie huffed while blushing. "I don't need you laughing at me because of it!"

"I'm not laughing because of that. I'm laughing because you think it's a problem. Are you blind or something? You'll notice I'm not the fattest person around here. Neither is Kimmie. Hell, Kimmie's smaller than you are," Shego argued, stilling looking quite amused.

Bonnie was about to say something, but she realized that Shego made a point. For the first time in her life, Bonnie was not the smallest person around. She did not look like she suffered from malnutrition or was poor. She amazingly enough seemed to fit in. Ew, she thought; she fit in with barbarians.

To get her mind off of that, Bonnie turned her attention to Shego. She looked at the Queen because she did not want it to seem like the woman intimidated her. The moment that she looked upon Shego's body, she was awe struck. The green-skinned woman's naked form reminded her of a lioness; it looked like sheer power. Shego looked like she was the very definition of strength, which Bonnie thought was odd for a female body, a beautiful female body at that, but she did not think that there was anything wrong with it.

Another thing that struck Bonnie was that despite all of the war stories that she had heard about Shego, the Queen did not have any marks on her strange pale green skin. Was it proof that she was a demon? Or maybe the stories were not true? She doubted that the stories were not true considering the fact that she had just watched Shego fight her own sister for the fun of it. So, she did not understand why Shego was completely unmarred from all of the fighting that she had done. Her thoughts were interrupted at the Queen spoke up.

"You keep looking at me like that you're going to give me bad ideas," Shego remarked with a smirk.

Bonnie was clueless as to the innuendo underneath the statement, but then she recalled Betty and the casualness with which they had discussed her being with a woman. Bonnie yelped when that information formed in her mind and she turned her gaze away from the ruler. Shego could not help laughing; her hostage was starting to get cute.

"That's disgusting," Bonnie grumbled as she glanced away from the green woman for a second.

"What's disgusting?" Shego asked innocently.

"Nothing," Bonnie muttered. Maybe she got the wrong idea, she considered. But then again, maybe it was the right idea and if it was, there was no way that she would say such a terrible thing out loud.

"Okay," the Queen replied, leaning back against the bath's wall. She sighed and sank deeper into the mineral-rich water.

Bonnie was going to sit there in silence, but she was curious about so many things around her. She figured since Shego seemed to be in a good mood maybe she could get some answers. She would start out with some test questions to see if that was the case.

"Are these natural baths?" Bonnie asked.

"Yup," Shego simply answered.

"Are they all this hot?"

"Yup."

"Do you have any cold baths?"

"Yup, but they're not much fun in the winter, huh?" Shego remarked, a smile gracing her face. God, she loved being a smartass.

"I don't know, maybe barbarians are backwards enough to bathe in cold water in the winter," Bonnie countered since it seemed like Shego was making her out to be the idiot.

"Ah well, at least we bathe point blank," Shego shot right back.

Bonnie snorted angrily because of the implications. "We bathe!" she barked.

"Yeah, I'll bet you do, like once a year, right?" the pale woman inquired. The smirk on her face showed that she was playing around, but Bonnie was too upset to notice.

"Everyday!" the princess replied earnestly.

"All right, all right. Sure you do," Shego said as if she was being sarcastic.

"We're not filthy like you barbarians!" Bonnie declared.

"You mean filthy like sitting in a hot mineral bath?" the elder female inquired with a cocked eyebrow.

Bonnie was ready to burst. The Queen was infuriating! No one could get to her by snapping back like that. Her sisters had to hit her with preemptive strikes to get her blood boiling, but Shego only counterattacked. It was actually worse than being hit first. Thinking of her sisters made Bonnie want to ask Shego about her behavior with her sister, but she had to do it in a manner that made it seem less like a question and more like an insult.

"At least we don't beat up on our younger siblings like you do," Bonnie commented, hoping that she had finally one-upped the Queen.

"Maybe that's why we're going to kick your asses come spring," Shego remarked calmly. For some reason, she did not stop there though and did something a little peculiar. She explained herself. "But, with me and Kimmie, that's our little game. It's one of the ways we get along. It's not something I would do with everyone."

Bonnie's brow furrowed a bit. She was confused again. She did not understand much of anything that was going on. Was Shego trying to tell her that she and Kim had actually just been playing around? She supposed that did explain why they smiled all the way through it. Had it just been sisters having fun? Were they not trying to hurt each other? It actually did not seem like they were, but it still seemed like an odd "game" to play. She did not see why sisters would play around fighting as they were.

Shego smiled a bit out of the blue as she gazed at the feisty brunette. "You stick around for little while and you'll find there's a lot of things I'll do with one person that I wouldn't do with another."

Bonnie craned a perplexed eyebrow. She was not sure if there was innuendo under those words, especially since Shego's smile actually looked benign. It was not an expression Bonnie was used to and she did not know it, but she smiled back.

* * *

Next time: Bonnie and Shego spend some quality time together and an unwanted guest arrives.

A/N: the thing with Bonnie's body type, the skinny thing, was just something that I took from the fact that skinny being attractive is a recent thing as far as history is concerned and it is cultural thing. I'm not entirely sure what body type was attractive in ancient times, except for in Ancient Greece where a well-proportioned female body was seen a beautiful.


	6. Roll of the dice

I don't own these characters.

6: Roll of the dice

Shego should have been bored. Kimmie was not in the palace to play with her; the redhead was at home, being held hostage by her grandmother as they looked at it. Betty was handling more paperwork, practically eating up as far as the Queen was concerned. She was glad that Betty enjoyed the work. She could only hope that Betty finished everything before a certain blonde engineer came looking for the one-eyed woman. She would have to wait and see how that worked out, but for the moment, Shego really should have been bored because the two people that usually kept her company were busy. Instead, Shego was thoroughly entertained.

The pale green ruler was lounging in a lavish den playing a game of dice. She was not playing with the usual roguish nobles that could be found at her parties, but with Bonnie. She was trying to teach Bonnie to play, but Bonnie was more inapt in gambling than Shego was when she was drunk. Still, it was fun trying to teach Bonnie the game.

It started with Shego waking up that morning and waking Bonnie up with her as usual, even though she had yet to use Bonnie for anything in morning. Shego ate a lot of juicy fruits in the morning, so she was rarely thirsty then. That morning, the Queen had her usual breakfast and then met with an official to talk business. The official seemed to know how speak the Queen's language by discussing kingdom matters over a game of dice. Bonnie had watched on, confused by the game and Shego noticed. When the business was done, Shego offered out of the blue to teach Bonnie how to play. The hostage, still not totally used to the Queen's spur-of-the-moment invitations, was speechless for a second and then decided to take Shego up on the offer since she did not have anything better to do.

Bonnie had not seen dice played much, as it was considered a low brow game back in her home. She was not sure if it was the same in the Goh Empire and Shego was just being her usual barbaric self by playing or if maybe the game enjoyed a higher status in the Empire. No matter the answer, Bonnie had a low opinion of the game, but she was still ready to learn how to play it.

It was an odd game that Bonnie was not able to get the hang off, even though she had observed it for a good part of the morning and had been learning it since then. The number of dice being thrown varied depending on the bet being made. They were not betting anything and Shego was just trying to go with the simplest bet that could be placed, which involved throwing a pair of dice. Every now and then, she changed up and they threw a different number, going up to the highest, which was seven dice. The winning numbers changed every throw. Throwing bare handed or using the playing cup changed the wager and had to be called out, and it did not matter who called it out. It was all very confusing for the foreign princess.

"You know what, I know how to get you better at this game fast," Shego commented with a confident look on her face.

"It's not my fault that I'm not a barbarian that gambles everyday," Bonnie huffed since she had once again lost the round. A frown marred her face as she turned her head up in some anger. The game was so stupid. She kept losing! She could see why dice was considered so low in her home.

"You know I'm getting sick of all of this barbarian talk. Every time you can't do something you pull that line. Stop bitching about everything," Shego replied in a fairly good-natured tone for her. She was actually being serious, though.

"I'm not bitching," Bonnie snorted and then she yelped, a small squeak of a noise, not believing the vulgarity that escaped her mouth. She covered her mouth with her hands.

Shego laughed; it would seem that she was starting to rub off on her little prissy hostage. She liked the shocked look in Bonnie's eyes as she realized that she had allowed a swear word to pass through her lips. It reminded the Queen of the first time that she saw Kim get hit in war. It was like total disbelief that such a thing was even possible. It was moments like that that was the whole reason that Shego kept Bonnie around.

"Stop laughing at me. This game is stupid anyway. I don't see the point of it," Bonnie practically whined while throwing the dice away, four in the all. The game pieces smashed against the wall that they were resting near.

Shego started laughing more when she saw the dice land. "Oh, man, you're better at this game when you're mad than anything else," she commented.

"What?" Bonnie turned and looked at the dice to see that she had finally landed a combination that Shego told her would more than likely win her something if they were truly gambling. She could not believe it.

"I guess for the next party, I'll let you throw for me instead of Kimmie. Princess'll just love that," Shego remarked with a laugh. She was willing to bet that Kim would call Bonnie outside if she requested that Bonnie do something for her that the redhead typically did.

Bonnie chuckled too, feeling at ease around Shego enough to laugh without thinking about it. It was becoming more and more common for her to feel almost comfortable or at least normal as time pressed on and Shego let Bonnie into her presence. She just did not realize it consciously. It was something that Shego noted and encouraged through her actions.

"I guess if I do that though, I'm going to have to take Kimmie's weapons away before hand," Shego mused aloud while reaching over to a table that held some fruits, cakes, and wine. She sighed while trying to figure out what she wanted and then she decided to be a pest. She made a familiar motion with her hand, which Bonnie noticed.

The tanned hostage frowned and sucked her teeth, but she did move to do her job. She was starting to get treated like other servants, namely Shego sometimes called her to pour wine and sometimes Shego poured her own drink. Most of the time, Shego made Bonnie pour her wine if the younger woman was close by the drink, but if Bonnie was across the room or something, Shego had no problem acting without her. The woman was a mystery to Bonnie even now, who had been in the palace for nearly a month. She just could not figure out how Shego's mind worked, which was done by design.

"You should pour your own wine. The gods blessed you with two hands," Bonnie huffed while filling Shego's porcelain cup that was painted emerald green and decorated with a ferocious dragon on it.

"They also blessed me with you, so pour my damn wine," Shego retorted while stretching out on her resting place, a comfy and large pillow.

Bonnie snorted, reminding the green-skinned warrior of an angry bull. She finished pouring the Queen's wine and then decided to pour some for herself from the Queen's own pitcher. If there were people around, they would have been shocked by such a daring maneuver. Shego noticed and thought for a moment if she was going to say something. She was in too good a mood and decided that Bonnie had just silently earned herself a new liberty for being so bold, even if she did not mean to be quite courageous. But, Bonnie was going to have to pay a toll for her new privilege.

The captive put the drink to her lips and sipped. She then shivered greatly and coughed once. Shego cracked a wicked smile, which was hidden by her own cup. The Queen had expected such a reaction and she knew that it was not done. Bonnie made a disgusted face while turning away and putting her own cup down. The hostage took a moment to cough a few more times and then actually wiped a tear from her aqua eye. By that time, the cup lay forgotten and Shego was laughing quite loudly.

"Stop laughing!" Bonnie barked. She was sick of Shego laughing at her so much like she was some kind of pet monkey. She was a princess, damn it! She deserved respect.

"I can't help it. I mean, if you could see your face, you'd be laughing too!" Shego declared, still giggling like a gossiping girl.

Bonnie frowned deeply, not knowing that when she did that, it only tickled the Queen more. Shego tried to get her chuckles under control because she did want to finish her drink, but it was hard to do with Bonnie looking so cross with her. She wondered if Bonnie was ever going to figure out if being angry with her only amused her. It was a pretty well kept secret; Shego believed that Betty was the only person to have figured it out.

"Drink it slow," Shego warned once she stopped laughing. It was more for her benefit than Bonnie's. After all, how could she finish her wine or eat anything if she was going to be laughing at Bonnie all day?

Bonnie retrieved her cup and eyed Shego suspiciously before taking the pale woman's advice. Sipping it very slowly seemed to do the trick. She had been caught off guard by how sweet the wine was. She did not know, but if she had more of it, Shego was not going to warn her that it was very strong wine.

"Is it always so sweet?" Bonnie asked curiously. She doubted that she had ever had anything that was quite as sweet, except maybe pure honey. She knew that she never had anything to drink as sweet as the wine that she was having.

"Depends on what I feel like. Sometimes servants like to surprise me," Shego replied with a shrug. Like with everything, she was fickle and impulsive with what she drank, even though she had a soft spot for anything that was sickeningly sweet. Sometimes, she ordered servants to bring a certain wine and other times, she would take whatever they brought. It was a very easy thing for them to gain favor with her by bringing her something that she would get a kick out of and her servants took her up on that whenever they got the chance.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Bonnie inquired with a puzzled face. It seemed like a good way to end up poisoned.

"No more than having the daughter of a man whose city I still might sack pour my wine for me," the Queen answered easily.

"You're still planning to sack Middleton?" Bonnie asked in disbelief and concern.

"They give me my gold and everything should be fine. Or they let me keep you and everything should be fine," the green-skinned woman replied with a weird smile. It was as if she was daring Bonnie to figure out if she was telling the truth or not.

"What then?" the aqua-eyed female inquired. She was not sure what to make of the Queen's response and decided to ignore the idea that Shego might actually keep her. She just wanted to know what was going to happen to her hometown. Now, she might not have any friends there, she might not care about the city because her father ruled there, but she cared because Middleton was basically the only place on the planet that she really knew, in her opinion anyway.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Shego replied, her smile morphing into a more common taunting expression.

Bonnie decided to stop talking to Shego for the moment. She doubted that the Queen would tell her the plans that she had for when she marched into the West. Bonnie just hoped that her father was able to collect the gold and she could go back home soon. It would be nice to get back home, Bonnie told herself.

"So, you throwing the dice again or what?" Shego inquired while grabbing one of the small, rounded cakes on the table. The pastry was small enough to fit in her hand and was easily gone in three bites.

"Why? It's not like it's any fun," Bonnie complained with a frown mixed with a pout. She was sick of losing every time that she flung the dice.

"All you do is bitch," Shego commented once again. She found that saying such things got a rise out of Bonnie like calling Kim "Kimmie" in front of servants got to the redhead.

"I do not!" Bonnie huffed like clockwork. She was not sure why she was so offended by saying that she "bitched." She was certain that she should not care, but she could not back down when Shego started her up, just like Shego never backed down when Bonnie started up. The one thing that bothered Bonnie was that no matter who started it, Shego always seemed to finish it.

"Your voice itself is like endless bitching," the pale woman continued on.

"Look who's talking," Bonnie shot back.

"I can bitch all I want. I'm in charge," Shego countered calmly before grabbing another cake. She also took a gulp of wine.

Bonnie was speechless for a second just because she realized how Shego was taking the wine. Shego gulped it back like water. She supposed that it made sense for Shego to be able to take the wine better than she did since Shego was used to it, but it was still pretty amazing for her to see.

The younger woman also finally noticed the cakes that Shego was eating. Once again making a bold move, Bonnie took one of the pastries that were resting on the table. Shego did not even consider saying anything that time. Bonnie had already earned the privilege as far as the Queen was concerned.

"Come on, throw the dice," Shego challenged Bonnie in an almost friendly tone.

"Why?" Bonnie inquired while biting into the cake. She almost made a face as it hit her tongue. It was too sweet! Why the hell was everything so sweet? It was not that she had anything against sweet things, but there was only so much that she could take.

"Because if you win, I'll pour wine for you," Shego replied.

"Seriously?" Bonnie asked, suddenly interested in playing what she figured was a stupid game only seconds ago. She did not care about how low brow the game was now either.

"Yeah," Shego lied. The important thing was that Bonnie did not know she was lying. "But, if I win…" she trailed off for a moment just to watch Bonnie squirm, which happened. The younger female was not sure what the Queen might have her do. "…you've got to stop wearing these stupid tunics for a few days," she decided. Sure, she could have gone with all kinds of entertaining bits, but she just was in a good mood. She could not be truly malicious right now.

Bonnie weighed her options for things. Was not wearing her usual clothing for a few days worth chancing a game to see if Shego would actually pour wine for her? Yes, her mind answered almost immediately. It would give her a chance to have power over Shego instead of it always seeming to be the other way around. She would be the one in charge in some manner, not just over Shego, but somewhat in general. After all, at home, the only people that she could command were servants and everyone could do that. She could suddenly have power over someone that had power too. She would get a chance to show Shego just how demeaning it was for a royal to be acting as a servant.

The younger female put her cup down and grabbed up the dice. She held them in both hands and shook them up. She unleashed the dice after giving them a good shake and tossed them against the wall. The both of them eyed the dice with interest as they hit the wall and began to land. When it was all done, Bonnie was frowning once more while Shego was smirking like a demon.

"Looks like I win," Shego pointed out smugly. "Guess you can't take Kimmie's place."

"I'm not wearing barbarian clothes," Bonnie declared in a defiant tone, turning her nose up to the game. Hmm…it would seem that another sore loser had joined the royal court.

"You could wear nothing at all then. I don't give a damn," the Queen replied with a bit of an attitude.

Bonnie balked at such a thing. From the way Shego sounded, Bonnie did not doubt that the ruler might actually force her to wander the cold halls of the palace in the nude. Seeing the frightened expression in those aqua eyes, Shego found herself suddenly calmed down to the point where her mood made her a liar on her last words. She now did care if Bonnie was wearing nothing at all.

Shego actually did not expect the sudden change in her mood. If anything, she should have been amused to see how scared Bonnie was with the idea that she might make the cupbearer stroll around naked. However, her feelings bypassed amused and went right to concerned. It was not something that she was not used to since it was still a bit rare for her to feel concern for a single individual, especially if that individual was not someone valuable to her in someway.

"Don't worry, we'll get you some real nice gear," Shego assured her hostage to get the terrified look off of the princess' face.

"You make it sound like soldier's rations," Bonnie muttered.

"That's how we look at a lot of things around here," the green-skinned woman stated with a shrug. They were warriors, even when they were at home and it manifested itself in ways, through their speech or something similar.

Bonnie was about to say something, but she did not get around to it. A servant came in and went right to the Queen. Shego was presented with a scroll rather than the servant speaking directly to Shego. Bonnie had noticed sometime ago that some of the servants seemed too awed by the Queen to even speak with her. Other servants that could muster the nerve to speak with Shego often stammered quite badly and it was not out of fear. It was just that many people, not just in her palace, but also her entire kingdom, saw Shego as a living deity.

While Shego turned her attention to the scroll, Bonnie went to grab something else to eat. She decided on some fruits since she doubted that those would be too sweet. She was about to pick the fruit up with her hand, but she noticed Shego cut her a sharp glare. The younger woman knew what the look was for; apparently, no one in Shego's presence ate with their bare hands, no matter how small the portion was. Bonnie quickly grabbed one of the many thin, wooden splints on the table to stab a piece of fruit with. Shego turned her attention back to the scroll.

"Oh, get the hell out," Shego groaned when she read the document.

"What?" Bonnie asked curiously, which earned her a look of astonishment from the servant. It amazed quite a few people how easily Bonnie spoke to Shego, but she did not really notice.

"My damn brother is coming down here," Shego grumbled while flinging the scroll all the across the rather big room.

"So?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't feel like dealing with his 'me-me-me' attitude. But, he's probably going to be here soon since the message just arrived. All right, time to mess with his mind. Let's go eat dinner," Shego declared suddenly.

"Dinner?" the tanned hostage echoed. They just had breakfast a few hours ago. It was barely the middle of the afternoon.

"I've got to mess with his mind somehow for him to get the idea I don't want him around," the pale woman explained.

"Why not just tell him to go home?" Bonnie asked curiously. If her big sisters did not want her around, they would just order her to leave their presence. She did not understand why the Queen was dancing around doing something that seemed quite simple.

Shego did not answer that one. It was not that she could not answer, but that she did not want people to know the reason beyond why she did not just tell him to go home. She actually did not mind her brother coming to visit her. She expected it anyway. Mego liked to winter in her kingdom because the weather was warmer. Not to mention her palace had the natural hot springs, which he believed to be better than a bath that was heated mechanically.

"We're not really going to eat dinner now, are we?" Bonnie inquired. She included herself because Shego had included her, so it seemed like she would be eating dinner with the Queen rather than pouring wine. More often than not, she was serving at the meal rather than sitting at it.

"I guess not. But, we are going to get you out of that tunic and then wait around for my stupid brother," Shego declared while hopping to her feet.

Bonnie groaned; she had hoped that Shego forgot about that little bet. But, it would seem that the pale ruler was ready to make sure that she followed through on the bet. Bonnie ate a few pieces of fruit while Shego gulped down her wine to finish it; hey, no wine was left unfinished in the Goh Empire.

"I wonder if you can fit in Kimmie's clothes or if we'll have to get you some gear made," Shego said while glancing at Bonnie. The western princess looked like she might be a bit bigger than Kim, not that such a feat was difficult to pull off.

The green-skinned ruler circled around Bonnie to get a good look at her, even though with the flowing garments that Bonnie was wearing made it hard to judge her size. Shego did not think anything of it and decided to just call in a dressmaker rather than taking time out of her day leaving the room, so she sent her servant off with that message. She also tried to think of if she wanted to greet her brother with some sort of feast or if she just wanted to leave him feeling unloved when he came into the palace.

"What are you doing now?" Bonnie asked since Shego sat back down.

"Playing dice," Shego replied while grabbing the dice up. She also motioned to Bonnie to refill her cup.

"Are we betting again?" the tanned princess inquired while doing what she was silently ordered to. She did frown as she did it, but decided against saying anything since she had already been one upped earlier.

"Sure, we can bet again. We'll roll on who has to entertain my stupid brother," the Queen replied.

"Are you serious?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. She had an incredulous expression to match her tone.

"Hey, if I can get out of it, I will," Shego answered quite seriously. She could not trick anyone else close to her to entertain her brother because they knew all about him.

Bonnie did not like the sound of that. She also did not like the sound of her "entertaining" the Queen's brother. She was not sure what "entertaining" him might mean and she did not want to think about it, especially considering that he was barbarian. She tried not to imagine what might be asked of her, but she did want to know what exactly was covered under "entertaining."

"Come on, it's no big deal," Shego urged Bonnie. Yes, she could easily just order Bonnie not just to gamble with her, but also to simply entertain her brother. But, there was no fun in just ordering the hostage to do it. There was a thrill involved in gambling for it.

"What…what would I have to do?" Bonnie asked curiously. Her voice actually betrayed her nervousness for the first time in being in Shego's palace. She doubted that Shego would make her do anything too bad since the Queen had not made her do anything horrible yet, but maybe Shego would not monitor what her brother would do with Bonnie. The hostage was not sure what Shego's brother might want her to do and she had little interest in finding out.

The pale woman picked up on Bonnie's tone easily; she was good at noticing little things when she wanted to. She supposed that she had a good opportunity to scare Bonnie, which should have proven fun. So, it was odd that she did not take that chance.

"Nothing much. Probably play games with him, like dice. Maybe let him win or not, both are annoying. Cheer him on if he decides to participate in some kind of game, even if he loses. Stuff like that, but nothing deeper than that," Shego explained, accidentally stressing her last sentence a bit. She did not want Bonnie to think that compromising her virtue was included in her duties if she lost. If Bonnie did not feel comfortable with something, then she did not have to do it.

"That's all?" Bonnie asked in a skeptical tone. If her eyebrow could have arched higher from her suspicion, it would have ended up in her scalp.

"That's all. You wouldn't even have to serve him food if he asked you," the Queen said. With a clause like that, she would be able to get on her brother's nerves and that would undoubtedly bring her more joy than tormenting her little hellcat Bonnie.

The Queen's response had stunned the hostage if the princess' gaping mouth, wide eyes, and still cocked eyebrow meant anything. Bonnie was even speechless for a moment. "No?" she managed after a few seconds.

"Nope. You're not his cupbearer. You're mine. And you damn sure aren't his servant. If he asked you for something, you can turn him down to your heart's content," the elder female answered. Oh, she would love to see how her brother reacted if someone that he imagined was beneath him denied him.

Bonnie almost smiled at that. It sounded to her like Shego was endowing her with power and not just a little power like being able to order around servants, which she could do with the servants assigned to her apartments. Shego was telling her that she could turn down another Goh ruler at her own whim. It was as if Shego told her that she was better than the visiting brother. The promise of power was enough for Bonnie to agree.

"All right, I'll take you on that," Bonnie informed the Queen.

"Good. You want to throw?" Shego proposed before taking a swig of her second cup of wine.

"I already threw. You should throw, unless you're scared of losing," Bonnie replied, as if she knew those words would get to Shego.

The Queen scoffed in a rather unladylike manner. She took another gulp of her wine and then threw the dice. Before the pieces hit the wall, Shego took another drink. Bonnie could not help sipping her wine while they waited for the dice to settle. The tanned princess silently admitted that there was really no way for her to lose the bet, either way she made out all right. If Shego lost, Bonnie would continue on with her duties, which she did not notice that she was getting somewhat used to by now. If Shego won, Bonnie would actually be able to torment the arriving Goh ruler.

"Ah, damn it," the green-skinned monarch groaned as the dice landed. She was going to be entertaining her brother.

Bonnie found herself curious about Shego's reaction to losing. After all, they had just gambled over who would entertain the Queen's brother. Did the Queen dislike her brother? She wondered if perhaps Shego's brother was older than she was because that would explain her reluctance to having him around in Bonnie's opinion. She knew that elder siblings, or sisters at least, could be cruel and spiteful for no apparent reason. She considered that might have happened between the Queen and her visiting brother.

As Bonnie thought about things, she considered Shego's behavior as a big sister. She had to admit that Shego seemed somewhat mean to Kim at times, but nowhere what Bonnie thought that older sisters were supposed to be toward their younger sisters. She was not sure what to make of it. She wondered if they were just weird. She wanted to chalk it up to barbarian behavior, but it did not seem backwards to her. Despite the meanness that Shego sometimes displayed toward Kim, the two sisters seemed quite closer; closer than Bonnie could ever dream of being with her sisters. After all, Kim and Shego spent a lot of time together and seemed to thoroughly enjoy each other's company, which she knew would never be the case between her and her sisters.

"Um…do you hate your brother?" Bonnie asked in a small voice.

Shego wondered what her cupbearer's tone was about. It was not fear or reluctance in addressing her; Bonnie never showed signs of either of those really when speaking to her. It sounded almost confused and nearly sorrowful. The question and tone sort of embarrassed Shego because she did not think that it was an answer that she needed to share, but Bonnie's voice indicated that she needed to know the answer. She could only wonder why the response was a necessity for her hostage.

"You tell me when you see him," Shego replied since that was the best that she could do.

Bonnie was not sure what to make of that response, but she decided that all she could do was wait. She wanted to see if maybe siblings always hated each other and maybe Kim and Shego's relationship was just out of the ordinary. She did not know it, but she silently hoped to find that siblings more often than not actually got along. Later that day, as Shego guessed, her brother arrived in his usual splendid fashion. She groaned as he practically entered her home with his entire court.

"Damn it, Mego, I told you to stop coming here with all of this crap," Shego grumbled from behind a dinner tray. She was having dinner with Bonnie…sort of. Bonnie was allowed her fill of the food, but she still had to pour the Queen's wine. Shego would have been having dinner with friends, but when they found out that her brother was coming, everybody suddenly had plans that they forgot about until that very moment. Traitors, she complained in her mind. How dare they just leave her with Mego?! She was the Queen, they were supposed to stand by her!

"I need to bring them all with me," Mego answered while a servant quickly fetched him a pillow to sit on and he joined his sister's meal without her permission, much to her annoyance. Mego was dressed in the official royal colors of his kingdom, which happened to be purple and black. He had on a following shirt of silk with knee-length pants.

Mego was a king, so he believed that wherever he went, his court needed to go. People were supposed to be there to cater to his every whim and worship the ground he walked on. His court knew that and they were already trained to behave in the fashion that he liked, so he took them wherever he went. He did not seem to know or care that his sister hated that he brought so many people with him when he came to spend the winter with her. She could not believe that his ego was so frail that he needed his people around to kiss his ass every moment of the day.

"I don't want your fan club fouling up the air around here. It's bad enough I have to put up with you," Shego practically sneered. Bonnie thought that Shego's behavior answered her earlier question until she noticed that Mego did not seem affected at all. In fact, he smiled.

"We both know I improve this place with my presence, like everywhere I go," Mego remarked, causing Shego to roll her eyes. She was not sure if she was going to be able to take him for the winter, but then again, even if she could, she would not have to. If Mego played his cards right, he would piss off someone bold in the court and he would have to flee back to his home to avoid getting into a serious fight. Mego knew that his sister would not like him fighting a member of her court, especially if Mego happened to win.

* * *

Next time: through chess, Shego gets closer to Bonnie…literally. And Mego incurs his sister's wrath.


	7. Checkered

I don't own these characters.

7: Checkered

Shego woke up and went to put in some work since she knew that Betty more than likely was not going to come and put in the work for her. Betty tried her best to avoid being around the throne room and other popular haunts for Shego's latest visitor, Mego. The one-eyed general was not known for her patience, especially in regards to Mego and his attention-starved personality. The first season that Mego had stayed in Shego's kingdom after Betty had risen in ranks, the woman had eventually tried to kill him. It had amused Shego on one level, but she had been the one that held Betty back.

So, it was time for Shego to get back into the morning routine that she disliked, but she doubted that it would last long. She just needed to get Mego away from the throne room and then Betty would make her way back, wanting to do the paperwork. She had to work toward that, though. She got out of bed and was dressed by her servants. She also got her cupbearer out of bed to follow along with her, which was a morning routine that kept up since Bonnie's arrival.

The pair had breakfast together, which was a platter of delicious fruits as usual. Bonnie actually wished that there was more than fruit, but she had a feeling that if she suggested it, Shego would do something vindictive, like make sure that she only had fruit to eat. It was something that Shego would have done, even though she was getting a bit annoyed with the selection. She just wanted something that she could eat with one hand while reading over her work.

Bonnie did like the variety of fruits that Shego was able to eat for breakfast, some of which she had never heard of until she got to the Goh Empire. She supposed that all of the variety came from the fact that Shego had a variety of lands to trade with or to import from, not just areas that she conquered, but also locations through out the Goh Empire. There were foods that Bonnie did miss because they did not seem to either be in Shego's diet or just were not to be found in the Goh Empire, like snails, certain types of fish, and certain kinds of meat.

But, for everything that Bonnie missed, there were at least a dozen other things to hold her interest. There were a few nice types of cheeses for her to try out, there were all sorts of nuts, breads, and vegetables. As far as fish went, she had several new kinds, including different sharks that did not swim in the waters near her home. The meats and birds that she had never heard of were also on the menu. There were even all sorts of insects for her to try. Some of the foods had an acquired taste while others, the foreign princess took an immediate liking to.

While Shego started in on her work, Bonnie just stood off to the side like always. She did observe Shego while she focused on her documents. She silently admitted to herself that as wacky as Shego seemed and the fact that the Queen was a barbarian, she seemed very dedicated to her job…unless Kim or Betty was around anyway. It was actually an admirable trait, the hostage princess thought and then she shook that away. She believed that such a thought showed that she was softening on Shego and she felt like she should not do that. Shego was just a barbarian, the tanned princess reminded herself. Nothing more than a filthy barbarian, Bonnie silently insisted.

"Damn it, I'm never leaving him in charge again," Shego grumbled to herself. She was referring to the regent that she had left in charge while she had been off on campaign. She had never come home to so many problems in all of her days of ruling. She figured that she would have been better off if she had left a monkey in charge.

The Queen went through her work until none other than Mego interrupted her. Her brother entered her throne room with a gang of twenty people in his wake. She looked up just be sure that she had a reason to be annoyed. When she saw the number of people with her brother, she figured that she had every right to be bothered with him. What the hell did he need that many people for trailing behind him like lost puppies for? She did not know the answer and she had decided for the sake of her sanity that she need not ponder the answer.

"Hey, Shego," Mego greeted her when his sister turned her attention back to her work, thus ignoring him.

The lilac-skinned young man did not take kindly to being ignored, especially by his big sister; well, really especially by everyone on the planet. He continued on saying her name until she had no choice to either look at him or set him on fire; she chose the former rather than the later. Hey, their mother might get a little upset if she was to torch the middle child.

"What? What the hell do you want?" Shego demanded to know, speaking to her brother with annoyance evident in her tone. Her face was scrunched up from his presence alone and her hand was balled up into a fist for a few seconds.

Bonnie was surprised because that was really the first time that she saw the Queen lose her cool. No matter what happened so far, Shego always seemed in control of the situation. It was like nothing could get under her skin, not being taunted by Bonnie, not the familiarity some members of her court seemed to address her with, not even when she was fighting with her little sister. Bonnie wondered why Mego so easily got to Shego. Was it because he showed up uninvited or something deeper than that? She supposed that she was going to have to wait and watch the siblings interact more to find out.

"I'm bored. Let's play some chess," Mego declared as if the world should stop just for him. The look in his eyes backed up the idea that he did expect everything to come to halt for him.

"Play some chess? Do you see that I'm actually doing work? You know, taking care of my country. Do you really think I have time to play chess?" Shego countered in a bothered tone while turning her attention back to her documents. She had to resist the urge to throw something at him.

"Um…yeah," Mego answered as if it was obvious and to him it was. Why would his sister not have time for him, after all? In fact, he did not think that such a thing was possible.

Shego frowned and held up a clawed finger as if she was about to tell her brother where to go, but she suddenly seemed to change her mind. She relaxed, putting her hand down and leaning her back against the wall behind her. She rested the document that she had been reading in her lap and continued to look down at it rather than at her brother.

Bonnie glanced up at the Queen, wondering why Shego did not just turn her brother down and tell him off. After all, she thought that Shego disliked her brother. Surely, the Queen would not give into the whim of someone that she did not like.

But then again, Mego did not look like a man that was about to be handed his defeat, Bonnie noted. His expression was confident, as was his stance. He had his arms folded across his chest, looking as if he would not be moved until he got his way. She wondered why he seemed ready to spend the day with his sister when it seemed fairly obvious that Shego disliked him. Bonnie just did not understand the pair yet, although she did not understand much about Shego at all.

Bonnie just knew that when her sisters showed her their hatred, she did not want to be around them. She failed to take into account that underneath it all, she did want to be accepted by her older sisters. If she recognized that, she would have felt like she understood Mego a bit more.

"Get me, Director," Shego said and a half-dozen of her servants scattered to do her bidding.

Mego gulped and a lone bead of sweat slid down his cheek. His eyes opened a bit wider as his heart sped up a bit. He thought that Shego might have called for her friend to get rid of him. He did know that Betty had a healthy disdain for him, finding him to be the way definition of annoying. He also knew that his sister held Betty on a very loose leash and it would take a lot for Shego to stop Betty from doing something. He hated to think of what it might take for his sister to step in between them since she was the one calling Betty.

"Mego, you might want to get out of here before Director shows up. I mean, you know how much she likes you," Shego teased him with a devilish smile on her face.

The purple-skinned young man listened to his sister and fled the scene with his twenty servants as soon as possible. Shego could not help laughing while she watched her brother leave, fleeing like a rat being chased by a cat. Bonnie was not sure what to make of that exchange, but she knew that was not going to be all that she would be seeing from the siblings.

"What? What are you bugging me about?" Betty inquired as she entered the throne room. She was speaking to Shego and approaching the Queen. Her annoyance was practically visible, flowing off of her in waves. She was upset because she thought that she might run into Mego on her way to see the Queen.

"Handle this," Shego answered while pushing her work away from her.

"What the hell? Didn't I finish this shit the other day?" Betty asked in disbelief. Her lip was curled up as she looked at the documents.

"This is just tying up some loose ends that just came in. Just do this for me while I go crush Mego in some chess. Unless, you'd rather crush him in some chess," Shego suggested with a smirk.

Betty scoffed. "I'll feed that bastard the chess pieces," she grumbled while folding her arms across her stomach.

"What was that?" Shego inquired with an intrigued arched eyebrow.

"Nothing. Get the hell out of here while I do this," Betty replied.

Bonnie was a bit surprised that Betty had not repeated her insult. From what she could tell, the one-eyed woman was never one to hold back, even when she was speaking to the Queen. What made her bite her tongue now? Bonnie could not really figure it out, except maybe that Shego did not like it when people threatened her siblings. So, did that mean that Shego actually liked her brother? If Shego did like her brother, then why did she act like his very existence ruined her day? It was all so confusing and Bonnie figured that the only thing that she could do was observe more to figure things out.

Shego shrugged and hopped up, happy to be leaving that dull task behind, as always. Betty called for her usual setup for when she was doing work. The servants rushed to do as the general commanded. Shego began to walk out of the throne room and she did not have to call or make any motions for Bonnie to know to follow her.

The pair traveled through the palace to Mego's apartments, which Bonnie noted were kind of out of the way as far as her rooms were concerned. He was actually out of the way as far as many occupants of the palace were concerned. Mego had to be situated in a way so that he was not close to someone that would hit him in the head with the nearest object as soon as he started being himself. Bonnie was unaware of that.

They entered a small den of a room, which was decorated just as richly as every other room in the palace. Mego was already lounging on a large purple pillow. Bonnie noticed a while ago that the Goh Empire, at least Shego's piece of it, had no use for chairs. Where Bonnie was from, she was used to seeing low chairs or couches, but she had only seen a few couches since arriving at the palace. She was getting used to it.

Shego did not greet her brother as a pillow was placed down for her. She laid down on the large, green cushion while Bonnie stood behind her. The large, table-sized chessboard was brought out along with the customized pieces, which Shego set up for herself. Mego ordered one of his servants to set up his pieces. Bonnie had seen chess played before, her fathers and other men around her home played the game often. The only difference that she could tell when her father played to what the siblings were doing was that the shape of the pieces was different.

The chess set between Shego and her brother had coin-shaped pieces; Bonnie was used to pieces that were carved into figures to indicate what pieces they were. The names were written on the flat side of the pieces in a contrasting color. Shego's pieces were green while Mego's were purple.

Bonnie never formally learned how to play chess since her father did not see the point of one of his daughters knowing the game. He claimed it was not lady-like for a woman to know how to play a game that was pretty much based on warfare. She understood the basics of it since she observed it, but she did not know anything too deep. She knew how the pieces moved and the objective of the game, but beyond that, much of it escaped her.

The hostage did know that chess required a lot of thought. She guessed that it was a game about strategy that had something to do with military thinking, since her father said it was game about warfare. She thought that it was really just a boring game that men played to somehow feel each other out when they were making deals of some kind. She could not figure out why the Queen and her brother were playing.

The siblings started their first game while servants moved about the place setting up food and drinks. It was well known that pair could play chess well into the night if the conditions were right. It was also well known that if distractions were not around during frustrating points of the game the siblings were known to get quite cranky, although that usually applied to the brother, especially after he lost a few games already.

"You sure you want to make that move?" Shego taunted Mego as he was about to take his hand off of a piece. She had already beaten him their first couple of games.

"…Yes," Mego answered in a hesitant manner, but he did not take his finger off of the piece that he had just moved. He stared at his sister, trying to figure out if she was just attempting to mess with his mind.

"You sure?" Shego inquired, a grin on playing on her lips like a killer shark.

"Yes, I'm sure," Mego declared confidently and he decided not to let his sister scare him while he took his hand off his piece. He had just sealed his fate as far as Shego was concerned.

"A great strategist you are…" Shego commented, while making her move almost immediately and then finished with, "…not."

Mego's mouth practically hit the floor as he watched his sister march deeper into his territory. He gritted his teeth together while Shego smiled like a demon. While Mego contemplated his next move, Shego reached over and grabbed a small snack cake. Bonnie eventually yawned out of boredom. Mego shot her a glare while Shego only chuckled.

"You going to move before she falls out?" Shego remarked while nodding her head back, motioning to Bonnie.

Mego was not getting any friendlier or relaxed as time pressed on. He continued to concentrate on the board while Shego continued to eat her cake. By the time her brother moved, the Queen was done with her food. She assessed her situation and then made her move in less than a minute. Mego looked down at the board, his face tense and near panicked.

The purple-skinned monarch was ready to just slap the board and say "oops" to at least avoid losing another game. He was just as capable as his sister, so he did not see why he should lose so many times to her. They came from the same background, so he had to be just as good as she was at everything that they both did. It only made sense that they should be on the same level…well, it made sense to him anyway. So, he did not see why he kept losing to her.

There was also the fact that Mego did not want Shego to think less of him if he could not beat her in a game of chess. He wanted her to see him as an equal and for that to happen, he figured that he needed to be able to do anything that she could do. He needed to be good at the things that she was good at or the things that she liked. To continue to be acknowledged by his older sister, Mego believed that he needed to be able to take her on and pose a challenge to her.

While waiting for Mego to move, Shego was surprised to find herself being handed a cup of wine even though she had not asked for one. She accepted it nonetheless and then glanced back to see Bonnie drinking some wine herself. Mego noticed that he had been left out.

"Pour me some," Mego ordered Bonnie, sounding gruff as he focused on the chessboard for his next move.

The hostage was not so quick to move, much to Mego's annoyance. He was used to his orders being obeyed posthaste. After all, he was a king and a Son of Death, so his commands needed to be attended to immediately. That was just how the world worked because he was that important, in his opinion anyway.

Bonnie looked down at Shego, who did not seem to be paying anyone any mind. The western princess did not move for the purple-skinned Goh King. It was one thing that she was to be ordered around by Shego, who held the fate of her homeland in her hands, but everyone around would not command her about like a common servant.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Mego barked as he looked up to glare at the hostage.

"And I'm ignoring you," Bonnie replied with an attitude, turning her nose up at him a bit as she folded her arms across her chest. She could see why people were avoiding Mego as he was not pleasant to be around. He was whiny, pushy, and did not even try to do anything for himself. She was having a hard time believing that he was even related to Shego.

Mego snorted with indignation. He was already in a sour mood after the moves that Shego was making against him in chess, especially since he lost two games already. He also did not like that he was being shown up by some lowly retch. It did not help matters that it was happening with his big sister right there. How was he supposed to keep her respect if he could not even keep servants in line?

He quickly grabbed for a near by item, which happened to be a bowl. He chucked the bowl at Bonnie without a thought and from what she could tell his aim was dead on. Bonnie was frozen in place from her shock, never having someone dare to do such a thing before. She would have been hit in the forehead with the thick, ceramic bowl, but Shego acted.

The green-skinned woman shot up at an amazing speed, catching the bowl with ease. She turned to her brother and practically growled at him like a mad tiger. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze questioned his sanity. He chuckled nervously, realizing his mistake. No one disciplined anyone in Shego's palace without her consent. He was lucky that she did not throw the bowl back at him as she held it in a near crushing grip.

"You must be out of your mind, brother," Shego commented through gritted teeth. Her jaw was tight from anger and her eyebrows were knitted close enough together that they almost touched. A vein in her neck came out because of how tense she suddenly was.

Mego decided to save himself from a scolding or a beating by making a move on the chessboard. He removed his gaze from his sister's infuriated, murderous stare, but could hardly even make out his pieces due to fright. He did not even know what piece he was moving, but he just wanted to take the focus off of himself for once.

Shego noticed the move and decided to let her brother off of the hook for the moment. She put the bowl down on the table near them and glared at her brother as if she wanted him to suffer through her gaze. He could practically feel her intense stare burning a hole in his skull, but he did not dare look up to meet her eyes. She then made her move.

"Check," Shego stated with such malice one might expect venom to pour from her mouth. It was like she was hurting him with her skills in the game.

Mego did gawk at the board in disbelief, his mouth nearly in his lap and his eyes ready to fall out of his skull as he finally took in the sight of the setup. He quickly tried to get himself out of his predicament. He ended up losing the game because of his panic. Shego sighed as her sudden anger started to dissipate due to boredom; he was actually getting worse at chess with age, she realized. She had never seen anything like it and it was getting annoying.

"Hey, you want to play?" Shego asked Bonnie out of the blue. She turned to look at the prisoner, who was still standing behind her like a good little girl.

"Me?" Bonnie inquired in a baffled tone. She even pointed to herself to make sure that they both knew who she meant. She did not know how to play chess much and even though Shego was beating Mego with ease, Bonnie could tell that Mego was better at the game than Shego was giving him credit for. She was right in that assessment.

"Yeah, come on and play him," Shego urged her cupbearer enthusiastically. She waved Bonnie over to her with a smile on her face. She was curious as to how Bonnie might do against Mego. Kim could beat the purple-skinned king with ease. Even Ron could under the right conditions, which had to do with the fact that they had lived more real life chess games than Mego had more than likely and they knew how to adapt.

"I'm not playing her!" Mego objected, pointing at the vile creature that was his sister's servant. Like hell he would lower himself to do anything with a disobedient, horrible excuse for servant! He was a king in the greatest empire the world had ever seen for crying out loud.

"Well, I'm not playing you until you get your act together. Play the little hellcat or are you scared of her?" Shego taunted her brother, smirking like a devil as she baited him into doing her bidding.

"She can't beat me!" Mego declared arrogantly, leaning forward to slam his hands on the chessboard.

"Oh, no? Care to make a bet?" the green-skinned sibling inquired with a crooked smile on her face.

"NO!" Bonnie jumped in because she did not like the sound of that. Neither she nor Shego had good luck when betting was involved from what she could tell. Combining them in a wager could only end badly as far as she was concerned. Mego was intrigued by the fact that Bonnie was against the idea of betting. He sat back with an interested look on his face.

"Keep out of it," Shego commanded Bonnie in nearly a harsh tone. It was the first time that she had sounded such a way toward her usually entertaining hostage. Bonnie flinched from the tone alone.

"What do you want to bet?" the brother inquired with a craned eyebrow.

"If she beats you, you have to wait on her for a day. If you beat her, she'll wait on you for a day. Fair, huh?" Shego proposed. Well, it sounded fair since it seemed to be an equal exchange. Of course, if whoever lost was going to be the most disgruntled servant of all time.

Mego thought on the bet for a moment. "Fine." He conceded with a wave of his hand.

Shego smiled like a vampire that had just come upon a fresh victim. She then suddenly stood up and motioned for Bonnie to take her seat. Both Bonnie and Mego were taken aback by that action. They did know that Shego had to be up to something for her to be acting so oddly, though. It was becoming quite apparent to Bonnie and Mego who had already known that Shego did not do strange things without reason. Shego settled in behind her hostage.

Mego began to think that he had the game in the bag before it even started because Bonnie did not know how to set up the pieces. He then saw a hint of what Shego might have had up her sleeves. She leaned forward and directed Bonnie how to set her side of the board up.

Mego was not dismayed yet because as they started playing, Shego did not make any suggestions. He laughed mentally as Bonnie made little mistakes, like taking her hand off of a piece before finishing her moves. Mego was not allowing her take any of those back just because she was not totally familiar with the rules or because she was not completely comfortable with the game yet. He marched on the novice relentlessly, pleased to destroy her in some way after she dared to disrespect him, and in front his sister no less! He smiled like a demon halfway through the game and then he saw something that might have spelled his doom.

Shego leaned down, settling herself near Bonnie's ear. She whispered something to the younger female and Bonnie moved a piece right after. Mego gulped and decided to call foul before the help became normal.

"This is cheating. It's two against one," Mego objected, motioning to his sister with a forceful sweep of his hand. His mouth turned downward into a disgruntled frown.

"You never said I couldn't help," Shego replied with a devilish glint in her eye. Bonnie shared a similar expression, which could only make the young king worry more.

"This isn't fair!" he argued vehemently, pounding the end of the chessboard with his fist, shaking it a bit.

"Life isn't fair. Ask this one, after all," Shego said while nodding slightly to Bonnie. Bonnie could only look away to attest to that.

Mego whined and whined, but the ladies did not care. He threatened to walk away from the game, but that was nothing to them. Shego informed him that he simply forfeited if he walked away. So, he stayed where he was and concentrated on his next move.

Shego remained parked where she was, close to Bonnie's ear, practically pressed into the younger woman's back. While they waited for Mego to move, she whispered more to the western princess. Mego could guess what his sister was saying, even though he could not hear her. Shego was telling Bonnie the possible moves her brother was going to make and how to counter them. Mego gulped and tried to think of a new strategy now that his sister was a factor in the game.

It took the young king a few minutes to get his act together, so Shego continued on talking with Bonnie. Suddenly, the western princess started giggling while cutting a few glances at Mego, who noticed. His frown deepened, burying itself on his face like a grave.

"What are you telling her!" Mego demanded to know as the giggling fit continued.

"Nothing, nothing. Just move before one of us die of old age," Shego replied, chuckling a bit herself.

Mego sucked his teeth, but turned his eyes back to the chess pieces. He wondered what the hell his sister was telling that girl to make her laugh at him. She should not be laughing at him. He was a Goh king for crying out loud! She should fear him, respect him, bow to him! Instead, she was giggling like he was greatest joke that she had ever heard thanks to his big sister.

He moved and Bonnie immediately went for a piece. She did not move it until Shego nodded and then the tanned young woman shoved the piece forward. She stopped at a point and Shego nodded again; Bonnie could more feel the nod than see it. Bonnie smiled confidently as she took her hand off of the piece. Mego was starting to visibly sweat.

While in her new position against Bonnie, Shego noticed something aside for the fact that her brother was getting nervous. She noted that Bonnie smelled sweet, much like delicious, ripe peaches. She licked her lips and suddenly wondered if Bonnie tasted as sweet as she smelled. She was drawn out of those thoughts when Bonnie turned to look at her.

"Here?" Bonnie asked curiously.

For a moment, Shego was lost as to what her hostage meant. Her mind was hoping for something totally unrelated to what was occurring and then she recalled the chess game. She looked at the piece that Bonnie was moving and where she was moving it too. She nodded.

"Yes, right there," the older woman answered in a low voice.

Bonnie did not notice the slightly glazed over look in Shego's emerald eyes as she turned her attention back to the board. Shego had started out looking to just entertain herself by getting on her brother's nerves and found herself caught in a little trap that Bonnie did not even know that she set. She smelled so good, so tasty. _Sweet things, yum, _Shego's mind commented. Now, chess for her was secondary and annoying Mego was pushed to the back of her mind.

Shego had to mentally kick herself to stay focused while she remained practically curled up next to Bonnie. She kept her eye on the game to assure that Bonnie won. She did take in that Bonnie seemed to be rather good at the game once she had leaked much of how Mego played to the western princess. One step toward winning was knowing how the enemy moved and Shego had given Bonnie that. Bonnie seemed to be running with it very well, but Shego still interjected points in.

"Oh, checkmate," Shego cooed in a delighted tone when she saw what Bonnie's last move did.

"Best two out of three!" Mego demanded, griping the edge of the board with his hands. He looked ready to leap over the table at Bonnie.

"She's just going to whip you again," the sister declared with a teasing smile.

"No! I won't lose to this lowly creature!" Mego stated in a roar, pointing a menacing finger at the hostage.

And that was all that was needed to get Bonnie going. She began setting up the piece again to play Mego once more. Mego also set up his pieces, but Bonnie was done before he was. It was while waiting for him that she noticed how close Shego was to her. She could feel the Queen's warm breath on her skin. It was almost soothing, she noted. She chalked that up to the fact that it let her know that Shego was still behind her figuratively speaking as she played the game and she could trust Shego to not let her lose the game since the Queen had pretty much handed her that victory.

They played until the sun went down, ten games in all. The only reason that they stopped was because Mego actually won the last game. He seemed to be under the impression that the wager only counted toward the game that he had won.

"Well, girl, pour my wine," Mego ordered Bonnie while waving his cup at her. He reclined on his pillow with a satisfied smile on his face.

Bonnie glanced at Shego, who was still curled up rather close to the younger female. Shego did not give her any indication that she needed to listen to or even respect Mego; the Queen was actually too busy trying to place the exact scent of Bonnie's hair, which smelled like peaches and something else. Bonnie moved away, which bothered Shego because that wonderfully sweet, mouthwatering aroma was taken from her. Shego came out of her daze just in time to notice Bonnie pouring a pitcher of wine on Mego's lap.

Mego features twisted into a look of pure hatred and he shot up like he was going to strike Bonnie, but she reeled back in time. She did collapse onto Shego, having fallen over the pillow behind her. Shego would have been laughing very hard if only her brother had not crossed the line once again. It was a bad habit of his.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Shego bellowed in a fury as she caught Bonnie.

"I—" Bonnie started to say.

"Not you. This stupid bastard here," Shego snarled while pointing to her brother.

Mego was actually taken aback by the anger that his sister displayed toward him. He was close to shrinking because of the fire that blazed in her eyes and that it was directed toward him. His heart rate sped up and his emotions sank.

"Sis," he tried to explain, but the Queen was not even trying to hear him out.

Shego actually carefully placed Bonnie down and then stood up to get in her brother's face. "Listen, you're a guest around here and if you ever, _ever_, touch any fucking body that's under my rule or care, I'll fucking destroy you!" she declared, snarling at the end of the statement.

Bonnie thought that she saw something utterly incredible as those words left Shego's mouth. Bonnie was almost certain that she saw green fire spark off of the Queen's hands. She dismissed it as her eyes playing tricks on her thanks to excitement that was happening.

Mego gulped as a chilled bead of sweat ran down his cheek; he _was_ certain that he saw emerald fire dance briefly off of his sister's fingers. Bonnie was sure that she had never seen Shego so angry. She had not thought that it was possible for Shego to be so upset toward a sibling with the way Shego acted with Kim. Sure, she teased the little redhead all the time and they fought, but Shego had never shouted at Kim like she had just done Mego and she certainly never looked at Kim with such fire in her eyes. Shego looked like she might actually slay her brother.

"I think we're done here," Shego said and she turned to leave. Bonnie followed behind her.

Bonnie actually felt the urge to do something that she never wanted to do. She was very close to thanking Shego, not just for catching her, but also for standing up for her. Yes, she could and did stand up for herself, but it did something to her that she could not explain to have a person stand up for her, especially when there was nothing in it for Shego to defend her. But, Bonnie kept her mouth shut.

* * *

Next time: there's a festival and the rating goes up.


	8. Through wine comes truth

I don't own these characters.

8: Through wine comes truth

Mego had been avoiding his sister since his first day of arrival in her kingdom and she threatened to destroy him after he tried to hit Bonnie. He was wisely giving her time to cool down. He did not understand what she got so bent out of shape for. He was used to her getting a bit angry if he tried to harm one of her servants right in front of her, but her reaction with Bonnie was different. She had actually scared him, made him believe that she would physically punish him had he touched Bonnie. It was an overreaction in his opinion, over someone that was meaningless as far as he knew.

He thought about the things that he knew about Bonnie, hoping to explain his sister's behavior. She was just some western barbarian's daughter who could not afford to pay Shego all of the tribute that she wanted to avoid having her burn the city to the ground. That was all; she was not even a real occupant of the palace or country. Bonnie was nothing special in his opinion and yet his sister had looked at him with heart-stopping disdain when he moved to strike the girl for having the nerve to pour wine on him. On him!

He was Mego; one of the sons of the God of Death. How dare some little backwoods barbarian disrespect him in such a way? How could his sister side with some little barbarian over him? Shego was supposed to be on his side always because they were family. Family was supposed to stick together; their parents taught them that. Yet, she had stunned him with her murderous glare because he was trying to put her monkey in her place. He just could not understand it and he actually misted up when he thought about it. He wiped his eyes with his palms and hoped that his sister got over her anger soon. They were going to have to see each other in a few days anyway.

There was a big holiday coming up which had actually been started by their father. It was a lunar celebration that Kane had named after Isabel when they were first married. She was the moon to his sun, he liked to say. It was a big festival that lasted all night during the first full moon marking the last month of the year. The four Goh kingdoms all celebrated differently, but they all did celebrate it.

In Shego's kingdom, the citizens had taken to painting their faces white in honor of Isabel since they heard tales of Shego looking just like her mother only having a green undertone to her skin. Shego was pale, so the people assumed that Isabel was pale too and painting their faces white was a way of mimicking the skin tone. They had no idea how close they really were to Isabel's skin tone by doing that, Shego thought.

It was also the only day where Shego was known to not wear green and black. The Queen wore green and white, having no problem honoring her mother when the woman could not see. She wore white since it was the color of the moon and thanks to the holiday, Isabel was associated with the moon. Her subjects followed her lead and wore white through out the night too. The white clothing and faces also paid homage to the moon since that was the heavenly body that represented Isabel.

The streets of the capital city were covered in stands, food, games, activities, shows, and everything in between. No one would be able to claim being bored that night, not that such a thing ever came up. In fact, usually after Goh festivals, most people learned that they could be gluttonous if given the chance.

Shego would have gone out and mingled with the people on that night, but as usual stayed within the palace walls because that was where her friends were and the good wine was. So, she had everything that could be found on the streets, also set up in the palace, except of course, everything in the palace was better. Shego did sponsor games, not just in the palace, but also all over the city. Whatever she sponsored was free to the public outside the palace walls and it was a known fact, so none of her subjects could be tricked out of their money if they went to something that the Queen did pay for. It was good for the country's morale.

"It's a nice night for this," Kim commented as she and Ron wandered through all of the activities for the celebration. They were bundled up in layers of clothing despite the fact that it was a nice night; it was still winter. They were in the palace, bouncing around from one thing to another thanks to Ron's ample energy.

"This is my second favorite festival!" Ron declared with a grin, throwing his hands up in the air with excitement as he rushed from stand to stand, which was how he typically spent celebrations. He was going to overload at the rate that he was going.

Kim knew that Ron's favorite festival was in the summer on the longest day of the year. The summer solstice was a day that the Goh Empire celebrated Kane, his father, and his grandfather; it was known as the Day of Kings. It was the biggest holiday on the Goh calendar and the celebration could last an entire week if the conditions were right, which was rare for them since they were out on campaign in the summer. Still, they did celebrate it when they were out and it usually lasted for two days.

The redhead watched Ron go from the game stands. She was not even trying to keep up with him after an hour of being out with him. She was just keeping him in sight for the moment. Thankfully the moonlight was enough to keep track of him and there were no clouds in the sky.

"Hey, K.P, look what I won for you!" Ron boasted with a grin as he presented Kim with a bracelet made of bright blue beads.

"You're on a roll tonight," Kim remarked with a laugh as she accepted the gift. It earned Ron a kiss on the cheek. With the way that he was bringing in prizes, she was going to have to find a wheelbarrow sooner or later.

"Every game set up seems so much fun. I don't know if I'll be able to get to them all," Ron said with a smile as he scanned around for his next target. He was having a sensory overload already, which was typical of him during a festival. A celebration was the one surefire way to get Ron overflowing with energy.

Kim was about to respond to that, but she did not get a chance as she and Ron ran into their good friend, Felix. Felix was being charted around on an open palanquin as usual. It was carried by two servants of his family. The servants were large men and used to their job, so they would have no problem carrying him around for the whole night.

He lost the use of his legs, which was something that was recent. He had been working on a weapons' project about a year ago, standing high off the ground, when some careless fool turned around with a number of wooden poles in his hand. He knocked Felix off of the scaffold. Felix did not recall hitting the ground, but he did remember the dreaded morning when he woke up to find that he could not walk anymore.

Felix did not let the accident get him down too much, but it did change a huge bit of his life. He used to go out on campaign with Kim and Ron, riding into the heat of battle with them, but that understandably stopped. He still went out when the army marched on campaign, but he stayed back with the engineers, doctors, and other non-soldiers that were with the army. He was not longer capable of being out in the thick of things like he used to and it was still something that he was getting used to.

Felix also had to get used to some people looking at him funny if they knew about his accident. Some people even tried to treat him differently, poorly because of his disability. Ron and Kim were not in that category. Kim had to get used to it, but Ron did not even think about it. Hell, sometimes Felix was not sure if Ron even knew that he could not walk anymore.

He was pretty sure that if the Queen did not treat him the same, most people would treat him as a pariah. He was in pretty good with Shego, being a great engineer and a wonderful soldier until a year ago. There were some occasions when he even played chess with the Queen. She actually treated him the same as always and the only reason that he knew she was aware of his predicament was because she often said to him now "I wish I could send you out with those two idiots to make sure they don't get killed" referring to Kim and Ron.

"Hey, kids," Felix greeted the duo with a bright smile and a wave. He was lowered to his friends' level; his servants had been carrying him at shoulder level at first. His blue eyes shined with joy because he was happy to have located his friends in the crowd.

"Hey, Felix. It's been a while," Kim replied with a smile of her own. She noticed that he was putting on some weight, which was good. Felix's weight went up and down at a worrisome pace because sometimes he could not get in exercises for his body and he gained weight since he could not move around much on his own. To correct any weight gain, he then went into starving himself to lose the weight. He could achieve an ideal weight for himself, but then he slipped and started the mess all over again. Right now, he was at his "right" body size from what she could see.

"Well, you'd rather beat the Queen up then come to some chariot races with me and Ron," the brunette young man pointed out with a teasing laugh.

"He's got you there, K.P," Ron agreed, chuckling a bit too.

Kim shrugged, not arguing. She really did not like most of the things that Ron and Felix were into, which was one of the reasons that she eventually eased away from them during the festival. They started talking about chariot races while actively searching for a rooster fight. Kim could not take it, so she went off to find her adopted big sister.

Finding Shego anywhere was typically easy for Kim; it was just like she had a homing signal that could key onto Shego. The redhead frowned when she did find Shego and thought that she might have to go find her other friends. Shego was with Mego and, like everyone else that was close to the Queen, Kim had a healthy dislike for Mego. Mego was being his usual flamboyant self, which did not play very well in Shego's court.

Currently, four well-built servants were carrying around Mego on a well-decorated platform as he cruised through the festival. The stand was covered in precious metal and stones, showing off his wealth. He was reclining as if he did not have a care in the world, just taking in the sight of the festival, smiling contently to himself more than anything else.

Shego was annoyed by Mego's presence and all-around behavior. Her mouth was pulled curled into a tight snarl, looking ready to tear Mego apart, even though she expected it from her brother since he did the same thing every festival. She knew that the feeling would continue to nag at her and only ruin her night as long as she could see him. She wanted to get away from him because she was actually still quite angry with him beyond his usual flamboyance too.

The Queen was still feeling the rage over her brother's actions when they played chess and it had been days. It churned in her stomach like a torrid whirlwind, making her feel almost sick. It was not a feeling that she enjoyed, which was only making her face tighter, tenser. The fact that she had Bonnie with her and Bonnie did not look pleased with things was not helping Shego's mood.

Bonnie's face was just as taut as the Queen's and her stance was tighter still. She was standing behind Shego, which the older woman seemed to be receiving everything that she was feeling and feeding her own foul disposition. Being in the presence of Mego, who did not even acknowledge that he had tried to harm her, only made the hostage feel deeper resentment of his existence. His blatant disrespect boiled in her, making her blood bubble. Shego knew that if she or Bonnie had any chance of enjoying the festival then they needed to get away from Mego.

"We should go watch a show," Mego suggested, sounding as if they were all supposed to go and do what he wanted now.

Shego rolled her eyes while her brother continued on speaking about what he wanted to do from on high. The Queen scanned the area and caught sight of her adopted sister. That was the only excuse that she needed to get away. She grabbed Bonnie by the hand without thinking a thing about it and pulled the younger female away without saying a word to her brother. Bonnie made a surprised noise as she was propelled with Shego. The Queen tugged Bonnie toward Kim while the aqua-eyed young woman tried to remain on her feet.

"Princess," Shego called loudly just in case Kim did not see her, even though she knew for a fact that Kim could spot her through out the whole army of thousands of people. Kim could also hear her in over the loud roar of the festival.

Kim stayed standing where she was as her big sister approached…with Bonnie in tow. The redheaded daredevil's face dropped for a moment. Well, Bonnie was better than Mego, the redhead thought. It was a sad day when Mego could not even beat Bonnie out considering how much Kim disliked the western princess. At least she was going to be able to spend the festival with her adopted sister, so her face went back to normal.

"Where's your buffoon?" Shego asked Kim with a teasing smile as she and Bonnie got up to the redhead. The monarch was feeling loads better and she had barely been away from her brother's poisonous presence for less than five minutes.

"Stop calling him that," Kim scolded the Queen, frowning a bit as she spoke to show that she was serious. "We ran into Felix and well, you know how that goes."

"You should watch out. He might be doing something with Felix when you flee the scene," Shego remarked, still smile her same taunting smirk.

Kim rolled her eyes and dismissed that taunt. She ignored Bonnie as they all walked off to go experience the festival. Shego kept Bonnie's hand in hers as they walked off. Neither noticed, but Bonnie relaxed as they moved on and she took in the sights going on. Her face was slightly amazed, her eyebrows slightly up and her mouth slightly gaped, even though she had seen plenty of festivals in her life.

They played a few games, Kim and Shego competing with each other as that seemed to be their way. They teased each other while going at it. Bonnie felt the urge to jump in, but they seemed like they were having a great deal of fun together that she actually did not want to spoil. Well, there was that and she doubted that she would be any good at many of the games. Matters only got worse when Betty found the group and joined in the games.

Betty came over with her blonde mistress, as Shego jokingly referred to one of her kingdom's most valuable engineers, Vivian Porter. The couple were holding hands, smiling; Vivian was smiling much wider than Betty. Vivian was dressed as provocatively as the weather allowed for, which was always her way. A lot of people looked at it as her enjoying teasing people with her beauty since she only let Betty enjoy her beyond looking.

Vivian dressed richly, liking light shades of purple more than anything else. She actually would not be allowed to wear that color in any other Goh province because it was a royal color, but Shego did not acknowledge it as a royal shade. The first time that Mego met Vivian, he had gotten beside himself with rage that his sister would allow anyone to walk around with the color on. He seemed on the verge to attack Vivian and rip the colors off of her, but he showed some restraint, knowing that it would not be good business to take one of his sister's prized engineers. That little tantrum helped add to why Betty would like to gouge out both of his eyes, tear out his tongue, and leave him wandering in a desert at the edge of Shego's kingdom. The blonde was wearing all white right now because of the festival.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before we ran into you," Vivian said to Shego, but she was referring to Shego and Kim. She smiled a bright smile in their direction, even though her words did sound as happy as she looked.

Vivian then turned to greet the other person in the Queen's company. She smiled at the cupbearer and surprised Bonnie with her friendly nature. The blonde immediately offered up a hand to Bonnie as greeting and introduced herself. Bonnie was taken back by the gesture. She was reluctant to shake Vivian's hand because she knew that Vivian was the woman that she saw behaving indecently with Betty.

"Aren't you going to take my hand?" Vivian asked curiously since Bonnie was just looking down at her extended hand.

The blond woman did not mind the slight much, even though she was rather aware of Bonnie's status. It was not going to make or break her night for someone to be rude to her. Besides, there were worse things in life than a stranger not shaking her hand and Vivian knew that. Betty was the one that pushed her hand down though, retracting her polite offer.

"You shouldn't shake hands with her anyway," Betty dismissed Bonnie, even though she had seen Shego interacting with Bonnie to the point that it was a familiar scene in her opinion. Still, she did not think that Vivian had to be disrespected by a barbarian. "She's no one important," the one-eyed woman added in slight anger while glaring at Bonnie for her insolence.

"More important than a pair of freaks like you," Bonnie huffed, holding her arms across her chest as if she was making a stand.

Betty tensed for a slight second. Her face twitched from fury, more from the fact that Bonnie would speak about her beloved than that the prisoner would say anything about her. Shego and Kim noticed and they knew what such words could lead to. Shego jumped in quickly.

"Calm down, Director. You know the little hellcat let's her tongue get away from her sometimes," Shego said while making a sharp cutting motion with her hand, which was a signal for Betty to stop whatever she had planned, which was undoubtedly a painful lesson in manners for Bonnie.

"You need to train your kitten better than," Betty snorted in anger. She calmed down somewhat when Vivian took her arm and forced Betty to put her arm around Vivian's waist. The body contact, even through the layers of clothing, instantly soothed Betty's eager nerves.

"Hey—" Bonnie started, but Shego cut her off.

"No, no, no. Director's right. You do have to realize that there's a line with everyone around here and you have to pick carefully with whom you cross that line with. Now, let's all stop acting so hard-shelled and have some fun!" Shego declared with a wily grin as she clapped her hands together and then rubbed her palms together in anticipation.

The group agreed with that and continued on through the festival. They took in a puppet show because Shego, Betty, and Kim all had the odd hobby of making fun of such shows. It was believed that they developed the habit together little by little from always having smart remarks about something. Bonnie actually joined in, finding the shows to be annoying just like the aforementioned three. Vivian sat quietly, embarrassed to know any of them.

To make matters worse, beer and wine was served through out the festival, including all shows; yes, even a puppet show. So, as the show continued, Vivian got more embarrassed as the group that she was with got into cups. Now, Vivian did drink like almost every other person in the kingdom, but she was not like Shego, Betty, and Kim. She doubted that anyone was like them. Hell, she doubted that they were even like them when they were alone. She believed that all three of them together was what made them gulp down drinks. She was glad to see that Bonnie was not like them; she was sipping the drink that she had gotten.

As the trio drank, they got louder with their jeers. Bonnie joined in with the volume, feeding off of their boldness from what Vivian could tell. The blonde did give the actors credit because they ignored all of the loud taunting and continued on with the show.

After the show, the group walked off, not as straight as before. They were now slightly louder than earlier and touchier, in two cases anyway. Betty had a hold around Vivian's waist that might as well have been a chain, but the blonde did not mind. Vivian used the closeness as an excuse to rest her head on Betty's shoulder.

Shego had her arm around Bonnie's shoulders for no reason other than the fact that Bonnie was a little wobbly as far as her legs went. It was clear to Shego that Bonnie was drunk and Kim was well on the way because both young ladies were giggling…with each other. Apparently, in the alcoholic haze, Bonnie and Kim forgot that they hated each other. Bonnie also seemed to forget that Vivian and Betty acting as they were bothered her; she might have just been too into giggling with Kim.

"You're wearing Goh clothes. They look decent on you," Kim commented, speaking to Bonnie.

The hostage was dressed in Goh garments because of her wager with Shego, which was almost a week ago. It was a good thing that she was, though. She had not been prepared for the cold wind that echoed through the palace in certain places, so the layers of Goh clothing was better for her than the tunics that she had packed. She had brought clothing for the winter, though; after all, she was not an idiot.

"It feels nice," Bonnie answered with a half-smile, running a hand over her shirt. Near-drunkenness seemed to agree with her.

Bonnie was dressed in light colors, white and lilac. Her shirt, the outer most one that she was wearing, was mostly white with lilac flowers designs on it. The cuffs of the sleeves were also lilac. She was wearing a dress, despite the fact that Shego had offered her mostly pants when providing her with clothing. Pants were just too foreign to Bonnie.

"This is nice silk," Kim agreed, reaching out to touch Bonnie's shirt too. The funny thing was that Kim was wearing the same silk in all white; underneath that they were both wearing cotton for the heat.

"Hey, Princess, stop trying to seduce my hellcat," Shego teased, pulling the tanned prisoner closer to her.

Kim balked at the idea. "Like hell I am!" the redhead objected louder than she meant to. She was not so drunk yet, she declared mentally.

"Like hell I'd let her," Bonnie commented with a scoff. Apparently, she was not so drunk yet either. Her mind was also not so cloudy that she did not pick up on the fact that no one around was appalled by the behavior of Betty and Vivian, who were still hugged up and had no shame in exchanging little kisses every few seconds.

"You'd better not let her and you'd better not try," Shego said to both of them, shaking an authoritative finger in their directions. They both rolled their eyes while refusing to hide their revulsion of the very idea of being near each other long enough for such a thing to happen.

"Leave them alone. If they want to seduce or be seduced, you should let them. They're grown enough to do what they want," Betty remarked, leaning over a little to her left because Shego was in that direction.

"Don't let me go through Vivian to rip your face off, Director," Shego playfully threatened the general, now pointing at the one-eyed woman. She talked of going through Vivian because Vivian was between her and Betty.

"Now, now, you two. Play nice," Vivian scolded them as she tried to cuddle closer to her lover.

Playing nice seemed to mean finding some more to drink, which was far too easy. Thankfully food was involved in that too, but it was mostly drinking for the warriors. The bad thing about hanging out with heavy drinkers like Shego, Betty, and Kim was that it was easy to lose track of one's own alcohol consumption. That trend typically led to Vivian getting quite drunk and added to that equation was Bonnie getting drunk without meaning to.

After hours of acting up, the group figured that it was time for a break. They went to a garden after picking up some "relaxation supplies." They ended up sitting in the garden, parked on the dying grass, with a basket full of food from the festival going on only a few yards from them. They were sitting in a messed up circle. Betty and Vivian were snuggled up close to each other. Shego was in between Kim and Bonnie, which might have caused some to wonder why if only they had the mental capacity to think that clearly.

"What the hell is this?" Bonnie inquired while holding up a charred bit of food on a stick. It was passed to her by Shego when she requested a snack. Bonnie's face seemed to be suffering from a faint, permanent blush, but she was not the only one.

"Grilled squid," Kim answered when she caught sight of the meal. Her eyes were at half-mass as she poured herself another cup of wine. They had gourds with them now that was holding wine for them. Kim's cheeks and nose were pink thanks to her drinking.

"You people eat the weirdest things," Bonnie commented while making a bit of a face, as if she did not want her snack now.

"This from a girl that eats roasted mice," Shego countered. She was drinking wine and eating a bowl of dumplings. She was not without her own alcoholic hue, but hers was much lighter than anyone else's blush around.

"How do you know what I eat?" the hostage inquired, eyes turning to focus on the Queen, who was sitting right next to her.

Shego waved it off while Betty chuckled a bit for no reason it seemed, reddening her face up a bit more. Betty was laughing because Shego's knowledge came from intelligence gathering. Betty's people were thorough, getting every little detail possible on their enemies when they could.

"If you're not going to eat it…" Shego did not finish her sentence and merely bit right into Bonnie's food, taking in half of it with one bite. The grilled squid was not that big, which was why Shego was able to take so much of it in one snap. Most food at the festival was meant to be eaten on the go, so it was never that big. The food was usually put on a stick or placed in a small bowl.

"Hey!" Bonnie objected and moved her snack. "I'm going to try it!" she informed the Queen. She sounded almost like she was whining and angry at the same time. She looked at her half-eaten snack with a pout, looking ready to burst into tears.

"Well, I can promise you it's good," Shego replied with a smile as she swallowed down her stolen goods. "Go ahead, try it," she gently urged her hostage.

"You bit it already," Bonnie moped.

"So? Go ahead." Shego nudged Bonnie with her shoulder. Bonnie continued to pout, but with a bit more of gentle urging, she bit into her snack. She chewed slowly, seeming to anticipate a horrible taste. She then suddenly smiled.

"It is good!" Bonnie genuinely grinned happily.

"I know it is," the Queen replied, smiling too. She looked quite content, which was rare. If her friends were paying enough attention to her expression, they would have thought that it was a trick of the bright moon light.

Vivian giggled a bit from watching Shego and Bonnie. She would not have been heard if they were not sitting some distance away from the major happenings of the festival because the din made it hard to hear anything that was not six-inches away and close to a shout. But, they were pretty much alone, so she was easily heard. The sound earned her a puzzled look from Betty, which she disarmed by filly the brunette's cup with more wine. Sure, she did not like it when Betty got too drunk, but it always made for an interesting night once they made it to Betty's apartments in the palace or one of their villas.

"Oh, thank you," Betty said to the blonde before taking a drink. She then leaned over and kissed Vivian for what seemed like the trillionth time that night. The kiss was a bit more forceful and scandalous than the others. It got a deep moan from Vivian after a few seconds.

"Hey, you two get a room if you're going to carry on," Shego teased when she caught sight of the couple doing what they usually did at parties. Bonnie and Kim seemed too intent on arguing over some cake to notice anything else. Shego was going to solve that problem in a few moments by eating the cake.

The Queen did not get so much of a glance for her bothersome comment. The couple remained focused on each other until the kiss was over, due to the need for oxygen. They did not pull away too far from each other. Betty was caressing Vivian's waist with one hand; the other hand was holding her very important wine cup.

"We should do that," Vivian whispered to Betty, agreeing with Shego's suggestion. Her mouth was still close to Betty's own. The blonde licked her bottom lip and her eyes beckoned her lover to take her away from prying eyes. The look in her eyes made Betty shiver, which made her response very shocking.

"But, the sun hasn't come up yet," Betty objected quickly. There was no way that she was going to leave one of the biggest festivals of that year that she actually got to spend at home before it was over, even if it was because Vivian wanted to leave. She wanted to spend the rather important festival with her love and with her friends.

"Then more wine!" Shego declared with a grin. There was a near distinct redness to her cheeks now that her companions could not see due to the night, even though the full moon made things bright. They did not know about their own scarlet flushes, marking their faces either.

Betty and Kim did not object to that of course. They passed around a gourd of wine until it was empty, but they had more than enough to last them through the night. They talked about nonsense, mostly due to being intoxicated as they continued to eat and drink. Their time began to wind down at the sun showed signs of creeping into the sky. Ron seemed to show up out of nowhere to retrieve Kim.

When he viewed them, finding Kim completely drunk with her usual suspects, he was not surprised in the least. She was laid out in the dirt of the garden, staring at the brightening sky while staying awake just from force of will. He did not have a problem with her current state either. The festival was about cutting loose and having fun. He knew that Kim had done that just from her state of drunkenness.

Besides, Ron was not at his most sober either. It was a good thing that most people at the festival either had apartments in the palace or trustworthy servants with them to get them home. Ron and Kim had the latter working in their favor at the moment, as did Betty and Vivian. Betty and Vivian were still sitting up, but they were leaning on each other and petting each other.

Vivian was nodding off, but she was trying her best to stay awake because in the back of her mind she knew that Betty would have to carry her to their apartments if she passed out. Typically, she would love the excuse to be in Betty's arms and would have even feigned sleep in order to be carried, but she did not want to be that kind of burden on Betty while she was drunk.

"Hey, ladies, parties over," Ron announced, drawing attention to himself.

They all waved at him in a manner, sort of dismissing him. After all, they could see the sun coming up, signaling that the party was over. Kim slowly climbed to her feet, almost falling while she was at it. Ron was ready to help, but she managed on her own; it was a good thing that he did not have to move because there was a chance that he would have fallen over. Once she was standing, she took Ron's hand and they staggered off after bidding the other ladies farewell. They made sure to move slowly and deliberately into the palace to go to their rooms to avoid tripping over anything.

"C'mon, Viv," Betty whispered to the blonde as she started to stand up. She had to pull Vivian up with her because Vivian was practically asleep, even though she was trying so hard to stay up. "Later, Queen of Darkness," the one-eyed woman remarked, waving to the Queen with one hand as she gently tugged her lover toward their apartments.

Shego did not even bother to say anything to them as they left. She glanced at her cupbearer and took it upon herself to take Bonnie to her rooms. Bonnie was conscious, but drunk like never before. Shego burned off the alcohol quickly, but not to the point where she was anywhere near being sober. In fact, Shego was so drunk that she went to her bedroom instead of Bonnie's room because she forgot where she was going when she started on her trip.

Making it to her chambers was not easy either, especially with the practically deadweight that was Bonnie. Really, Shego hardly noticed that she was carrying extra weight, but still her legs felt like jelly and from the way that she walked through the halls, they might have been made of the substance. She was also leaning more to the right side as she walked, which might have been due to the fact that she was holding Bonnie or just because she could not get her balance together. It was surprise that she did not fall on Bonnie at some point during the journey. With the way her mind was working, had she fallen on Bonnie, she probably would have wondered what the cushion was that broke her fall.

When Shego made it to her bedroom, she wondered why it felt like she had made a mistake of some kind. She was trying to figure out why she should not be in her chambers yet. Right, she was supposed to go to Bonnie's apartments first. Maybe she already went, she considered; it would explain why she was in her bedroom now.

"Ah, damn it," Shego muttered when she looked to her side and realized that she was supporting Bonnie. She had hoped that she had actually dropped Bonnie off at her room and just could not remember, but obviously that was a silly fantasy.

"What?" the tanned princess asked curiously and in a very low, almost sleepy tone. She had been being quiet for the whole trip because Shego had not said anything.

"Nothing," Shego replied, shaking her head for no real reason since Bonnie was not looking at her. Well, it was nothing to her. "You're going to have to sleep in here," the pale woman decided.

"Why? Where are we?" Bonnie asked. She lifted her head up to look around, nothing looked familiar to her. She had never been in Shego's quarters before. She wondered once again where they were. She wished that she was in a bed; she needed to lie down and she was well aware of that fact.

"Just…go sleep," Shego replied, sounding a bit tired herself. There was just no way in hell that she was trying to go to Bonnie's apartments now. Who knew where she might have ended up on a second try, after all. She also was not in the mood to call for any servants, who were never in her room when she was going to bed. Shego was usually very paranoid about people being around her to sleep, except for a select few.

Shego placed Bonnie down on her large bed and stripped down to a single layer of clothing. Bonnie was busy cuddling into her bed, very thankful for a comfortable resting place, so she did not notice what the Queen was doing. She then started taking off Bonnie's clothing and was surprised to find that the young lady was still awake. Bonnie giggled as Shego quickly rid her of her clothes.

"You're trying to seduce me," Bonnie remarked with a laugh. It would seem that she thought such a thing was a joke. Obviously, the wine was still clouding most of her brain.

"Please, I wouldn't have to try hard with a lightweight like you," Shego replied as if she was insulted with the accusation.

Bonnie only chuckled a bit more. The foreign princess was quite the giggle maniac when she was drunk. She laughed while watching Shego take her out of much of her clothing. She was left in a couple of white cotton shirts, one with short sleeves that went down to her knees and a shorter one underneath that with no sleeves. She had a skirt piece on too, which Shego left on her to make sure that she was warm throughout her rest. Shego was in a sleeveless white shirt that barely went to her mid-thigh.

Shego got in the bed and pulled Bonnie up to the head of the bed with her. The pale ruler covered them both with a single cover, which was all she had on her bed. Shego's whole body was thankful to be lying down and that seemed to be the same case with Bonnie, who sighed contently and her eyes shut as soon as her head was on the pillow. Shego looked over at the western princess and thought that she was sleeping already. She then noticed Bonnie's slightly parted mouth and her lips, reddened from candies and wine at the festival.

"Sweet things…" Shego's brain whispered to her, remembering that Bonnie had a sweet peach aroma to her.

With her brain mostly in neutral and only thinking about how much she loved sweet things, Shego leaned over and kissed Bonnie on the lips. She tasted a few different flavors on her cupbearer's mouth, all of which she was fine with. Much to her surprise, Bonnie was awake and began kissing her back.

The princess had been stunned when she felt Shego's lips on hers, but the only thing that coursed through her mind was that it was a delightful sensation. Shego was more focused on the taste at first. Sweet things, yum, Shego's mind commented while a pleased feeling washed over the Queen. Bonnie actually moaned as the kiss deepened. Well, it was more a cute little whimper of pleasure, which only got to Shego more when it reached her foggy brain.

Shego's hands moved on their own accord, but she did not dare think to stop them. She caressed Bonnie through her thin layer of clothing, earning more moans from the western princess, which only egged Shego on more. Their kiss was paused momentarily as Shego got rid of Bonnie's tops. Once those were gone, so was Shego as far as Bonnie knew.

Shego moved on in the middle of a kiss to see if the rest of Bonnie was as sweet as her lips were. Bonnie did not have much time to miss the older woman's mouth. She hissed in surprise and in delight when the Queen began to kiss and lick her neck. Shego worked her way down with rapid, wet kisses all over Bonnie's decidedly delicious torso. The younger woman clawed at Shego's back as she began to caress Bonnie's side with enchanted fingers from what Bonnie could tell.

"So…good…" Bonnie practically cooed from the caressing and then she yelped as an intense sensation washed over her like a powerful wave.

Shego latched on to what apparently was a button that made Bonnie lean up to suggest that she wanted more. The more that Shego played with the switch, the closer Bonnie tried to hold her. It was the same when she went to the other side and paid the same attention to the twin. Bonnie cried out for more while holding Shego to her. The Queen obliged by bringing her hand up to massage the unattended mound, kneading it with surprising care. Bonnie cried out again while trying to lean into each touch as Shego worked on her. She feasted for a few minutes longer before moving downward.

Bonnie whimpered a bit, as if disappointed that the wonderful mouth left her sensitive areas after starting such a fire in her blood and putting her nerves on end. Bonnie's mouth just could not form the proper words to request a return trip. She did not have to wait long for more attention, though.

The green-skinned woman practically shredded Bonnie's skirt with her nails and all Bonnie did was wiggle while that happened, seemingly trying to help get out of skirt. The squirming only enticed Shego more, as did the promise of more sweet tastes. They both shuddered when Bonnie was free from that cloth. Shego could already smell the fruit of her labor and wasted no time going in for another feast.

"Tasty," Shego whispered as she lightly ran her tongue across her destination. She was quite pleased to find that the peach aroma was steady through out the princess' wonderful, sweet body.

Bonnie jumped as contact was made, but she did not say anything. She did try to sit up to get a glimpse of what was going on, but Shego put a hand on her stomach, forcing her back down. Shego kept her hand flat on Bonnie's belly and dived into what she wanted.

Bonnie gasped incredulously; Shego could feel the princess' stomach muscles flex underneath her palm. Shego made sure to keep Bonnie as still as possible as she continued on. Bonnie writhed and wiggled while panting and crying out in sheer delight as the Queen practically drank her in. No real thoughts passed through Bonnie's mind other than that she did not want things to end; it felt so good. All Shego could think was, "Sweet things. Yum."

* * *

Next time: the aftermath of this mess. Hey, Bonnie has to wake up sometime and see where she's at and who's next to her.

A/N: food-on-the-go, also known as fast food, is certainly not a modern thing. Ancient Rome and Ancient Japan had stands and such for the fast food of the day and I'm sure other places had them too. And that would be the inspiration for everyone walking around the festival with food or drinks.


	9. Sunny side down

I don't own these characters.

9: Sunny side down

Shego woke up with a low, slightly pained groan. She knew immediately that she drank too much at the festival. Her head was throbbing, which was why she did not bother with sitting up. She really just wanted to sink into her lovely, soft mattress and fall back to sleep until her head was not bothering anymore. Her pillow was practically calling her back to it. The pillow was humming a heavenly song as far as she was concerned, but that did not last long.

It took the Queen a moment to realize something more important than her hangover. She could hardly believe her eyes when she noticed and had to do a double-take when she saw that she was not alone in her bed. She even rubbed her eyes, as if that would make her companion disappear or prove that it was just her hangover playing tricks on her, but that did not do anything for her. Thanks to that information she figured that she had probably done something that she was typically against. She found that Bonnie was curled up next to her, undoubtedly for heat and maybe more than that. They were both quite nude.

"Ah, damn it," Shego muttered in an irked tone. She was pretty sure that she had done something that she and her friends called "slipping" because they figured that it had to be a mental slip. She had had sex under the influence.

There were plenty problems with having sex under the influence. Really the only pair that pulled it off were Betty and Vivian, which the friends figured was only done well because they were a couple. Sure, Ron and Kim were a couple too, but they did not do a lot of things well when given enough wine. Hell, sometimes Ron could barely walk if enough alcohol was put in his system.

Shego barely recalled what happened last night, so she knew that it was going to be near impossible for Bonnie to recollect what happened. She could guess how horrible the reaction was going to be already considering the fact that she knew Westerners thinking toward two women in a relationship. She also knew that Bonnie was product of her culture. With the way that her head was pounding, she did not want to deal with what was coming.

"Damn Kimmie and Betty," Shego complained, blaming them for her hangover. It was rare for her to have hangovers, but during certain festivals it was almost a given. It seemed like all she, Betty, and Kim did when they got together was drink, eat, and talk when they were not involved in a battle.

The pale woman was about to ease out of her bed, but she found out a quite interesting fact. Bonnie was clinging to her. She looked down at the younger female, seeing that Bonnie was hooked to her as if she could protect the princess from any and all evil. She noticed that Bonnie looked at peace for the first time. The princess was not tense or huffing about something and she looked quite cute because of that.

"I like you when you're not being a hellcat too," Shego whispered and she gently caressed Bonnie's soft cheek. Her hand delighted in just being able to feel such wonderful skin under her fingertips.

The Queen then realized what she said and shook that away. She did not like Bonnie, she told herself. Bonnie was nothing more than a bit of entertainment for her, like many other people in her life. She did not like the noisy, bitchy, whiny girl as anything more than what a child would like a toy, she promised herself.

She had to say such things to herself did not like the feeling that coursed through her while looking at Bonnie right now. She felt something that she could not even put into words. It was like having soothing, warm water mixing with soft clouds floating through her veins and meeting up in her chest, right next to the heart she refused to acknowledge she had. She doubted that she had ever felt something like that before and she was certain that she did not like it. It did not seem appropriate to feel when just looking at someone that she dubbed as nothing more than "entertainment."

Shego decided to make her escape before Bonnie woke up and she had to deal with that attitude of the princess' that she really did not feel like dealing with at the moment. Well, there was that and she just did not want to experience any other foreign emotions. In short, she did not want any part of Bonnie right now.

Bonnie was curled up too tightly for the Queen to make it out of the bed without rousing her. Shego did not try to think too much on why Bonnie was clinging to her like she was a lifesaver of some kind, but it was getting very apparent that she was not going to get out of the bed without moving Bonnie off of her and possibly waking the princess up.

As Shego moved, Bonnie whimpered and clung closer to the pale woman, snuggling her face into the Queen's collar bone. The green-skinned monarch had to force herself not to just wrap her arms around the princess and go back to sleep holding her. It just felt…sweet to have Bonnie pressed against her in such a way and to show such trust in her.

Shego silently cursed to herself, loathing that she desired to hold Bonnie. She also knew that the morning was going to get a lot worse before it got better if she could not make it out of the bed before Bonnie woke up. She was right.

Bonnie groaned as she began to stir. Shego wanted to just leap out of the bed, but her guest was still clutching her, cuddling her. Aqua eyes fluttered open before Shego could gain her freedom and the Queen cursed everything that she had enjoyed last night in her mind.

The western princess groaned again. Her head felt like wild horses had trampled it. Her body felt somewhat the same, including in her lower regions. There was something more than the dull ache coursing from the tips of her toes to the top of her head to the ends of her hair.

Bonnie did note that she was pressed against something very comfortable and warm. There was something almost safe about whatever she was lying against. Whatever she was next to actually helped relieve the ache that she was experiencing and then she caught sight of just what she was pressed against.

The tanned hostage then noted a few more things about her wonderful resting place. Her fingers glided across the smooth surface that felt suspiciously like flesh. Further inspection was necessary, she thought. Her hand crept up from where it was, which happened to be Shego's side. The hand crawled passed some ribs, making it to a curious hill.

The Queen had to bite her lip to keep herself from making a sound as Bonnie inspected her. She was also a still as possible. She did not want to cause Bonnie any sort of alarm, even though she knew that was inevitable. Maybe a piece of her was also enjoying all of the attention coming to her from her little goodwill hostage.

The tanned princess continued on with her exploration. She dared to cup the mound that her hand settled on. She noted the pearl peak under her palm. For a moment, she considered that she would like to carry on with her journey, but her brain kicked in and told her what she knew was going on. She knew where her hand was and she just did not want to believe it.

Before jumping to any conclusions and possibly being wrong, Bonnie decided to see what was going on. She glanced down, noticing that her "pillow" was a very pale green. She gulped while her heart sped up from fear and anxiety. She had to force herself to peer upward, hoping to prove that what she thought was happening was not happening. Her eyes crept slowly up the whitish form that she prayed was a pillow, but knew otherwise. Her face completely fell when she saw that she was exactly where she believed she was.

"Don't scream," Shego ordered quite seriously when she saw Bonnie's wide-eyed, horrified expression; the princess looked like a lion was charging at her at full speed. She could tell the reaction coming her way was going to be the worst that she had ever been subjected to.

"What the hell are you doing next to me!" Bonnie screeched in absolute terror while pushing away from the Queen. It was then that she noticed that she was naked. "Where the hell are my clothes!" she practically cried as she wrapped her arms around her body. Whether the action was to hide her form from the Queen or to help keep herself together was not even on her mind.

"Calm down!" Shego hissed heatedly, like an ornery snake. She could not find it in her to be kind to her little hellcat right now because all of Bonnie's yelping was hurting her already throbbing head.

"What did you do to me!" Bonnie demanded to know, tears threatening to spill from her eyes as she thought the worst. She began to tremble, so she clutched herself tighter, trying to comfort herself.

"Nothing you didn't enjoy," Shego replied bluntly with disdain in her voice. Her attitude was coming from her hangover and Bonnie's reaction to things.

Bonnie was actually shivering from the thoughts that she was allowing to float through her mind. Shego was not in the mood for such dramatics. She reached out for Bonnie, who flinched and shrieked when she saw the pale green hand coming toward her. Bonnie slapped at Shego's hand while moving farther across the bed; she was running out of mattress.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Shego inquired in an annoyed voice.

"Don't touch me!" Bonnie cried and her tears began to creep down her cheek.

Shego's face fell when she noticed the tears as she realized what Bonnie might have thought. She did not get the chance to fully explain that she had not done what Bonnie might be thinking that she did; she had not totally meant to take advantage of Bonnie. The hostage realized that she was crying and had to make a hasty retreat because she never wanted anyone to see her cry.

Bonnie exited the room wrapped in the Queen's green cover. The flowing sheet moved angrily with the upset princess. Shego was dumbstruck for a second, shocked by what she knew Bonnie thought happened. She would never do something so low.

"It's not what you think!" Shego called to Bonnie's fleeing form when her brain finally recalled how to speak.

Shego snarled like an angry beast when her hostage did not stop; from the sound of her footsteps, it was clear that Bonnie actually sped up. She ordered some nearby servants to go take care of Bonnie and help the younger woman get back to her apartments safely, considering the fact that she was going into the open palace with only a blanket wrapped around her. With that done, Shego sighed.

"I really fucked up this time," the Queen muttered to herself while shaking her head, disapproving of her own actions for the first time in a long time.

She could not believe that she had something so stupid and she felt so horrible over what happened that it seemed like the emotion was stuck in her gut. She damn near wanted to throw up, just to get that experience out of her stomach. Shego wondered, how the hell could someone, some hostage affect her in such a way? It was so rare for her to feel something so negative and powerful and for the cause to be a foreigner that she was just keeping until she got her tribute made things worse.

Shego collapsed back into her resting place, even though she planned to get up now that she was awake. She just needed sometime to get her head together, sorting out some troubling emotions. She also took time to remind herself just what Bonnie was, if only to get that guilty, nagging, gnawing feeling out of her stomach, but it really only spread. Now, the emotion seemed like it was sneaking up into chest and eating her organs on the way there.

She turned her head into her pillow without thinking. She caught Bonnie's still fresh scent all over her bed. She inhaled; the smell was so sweet.

"Damn my tongue," the pale woman muttered into her pillow.

* * *

Bonnie was in safely back in her rooms. It was a good thing that Shego had sent servants after her because she had gotten lost when she fled from Shego's bedroom. At first, she would not listen to the servants' directions as they tried to guide her back to her apartments. But, she mentally conceded that she needed help and followed them after several long minutes of wandering the halls in the nude while weeping.

She was now on her bed, still wrapped tightly in Shego's bedspread. It did not even register to her mind that she was clutching the blanket to her body. She was too busy shaking and crying uncontrollably.

She had been naked and in the bed with Shego, who had also been naked. Thinking about it made her bawl harder. What had that evil, immoral, horrible woman done with her? She could guess what happened, which was not helping stop her crying. In fact, it made her scream loudly at the ceiling. The noise that escaped her would have easily emptied Hell, the occupants unable to take the despair.

Bonnie actually could not recall the events of last night, which only bothered her more and allowed her mind to come up with all sorts of wild excuses for why she woke up naked next to an equally naked Shego. It certainly did not help matters that she was sore below the waist.

She hated that her mind kept telling her what she did not want to even consider. It hurt to think about it, twisting her insides in knots and then squeezing them all together into a tight ball. She felt like she might throw up and she actually hoped that she would. Maybe if she vomited, she would feel somewhat better by getting that out of her system. Instead of throwing up, the feeling just complied and she began to feel worse, like she would rather die than to continue experiencing what she was going through now.

"What the hell happened?" Bonnie muttered to the air through her body-racking sobs. She started coughing because she was crying so hard.

Bonnie was not sure if she wanted to remember last night, but she was certain that it would be better than the images that her mind was coming up. She knew that the things her brain was offering her were not memories of the night…well, she hoped that what her brain was telling her were not memories. But, it was all that she was coming up with and it was mercilessly murdering her mentally and emotionally.

"How could she do this to me?" Bonnie wondered, burying her face in her mattress for no reason aside for the distress that she was going through. She screamed into her pillow; it was an agonizing, gut-wrenching wail.

Bonnie felt like she ached to the very depths of her soul. Her first time…ruined, stolen, ripped from her. She never really sure of how she wanted her first time to be, but she was certain that she wanted something more romantic than being ruined by Shego. She was that Shego stole her virtue, even though she did not want to believe what her brain was telling her. She was now soiled almost beyond comprehension, in her opinion.

She was never going to be able to tell anyone about it either, not that she ever planned on it. If her father ever found out, she did not even want to think of what he might do to her. One thing that came to mind was that he might marry her off to the first idiot that came along, not knowing that she was tainted material. Of course, things could be worse where he could just lock her away in a dungeon or something. How the hell could Shego do something like that to her!

The western princess hated to admit it to herself, but considering the circumstances, she was not in her right mind. She had thought that Shego liked her in some way, allowing her to hang around the Queen's friends and letting her do as she pleased for the most part. She thought that they were friends of some kind, so it ripped through her like a flaming broad sword for Shego to have…done whatever she did last night.

Bonnie felt dirty and used, but she could not do anything about it. The only thing that she could do was cry, wail, and scream into her pillow, which was all that she did. She was thankful that no one was around. She bawled into her comfortable pillow, shouting every few seconds; it was a heart-wrenching sound of despair from the very depths of her soul.

"I wanna go home," she whimpered. That would have never happened if she were at home, safe, and in charge. That was actually the first time that she even dared to think that.

She held herself tighter, hoping that it would bring her some comfort. The most it was doing was keeping her ribs from flying out of her torso from the way her chest was heaving. She started coughing again while chanting in her head "I wanna go home." Home was safe and nothing like what happened last night ever happened at home.

No person, let alone a woman, would ever think to touch her if she was home. She would never feel like she wanted to throw herself off of the roof if she was home. Sure, she might feel a little annoyed at home, but what she was feeling now made annoyed look like never-ending glee. She would rather be with her sisters right now than where she was currently. She would rather be torn apart by rabid wolves, which she guessed would be the same as being with her sisters. She just wanted to be as far away from Shego as humanly possible.

"I hate it here," she muttered before coughing again because she was crying too much. She curled up into a tight ball, bawling louder, making her headache worse with every second. Despite it all, she remained wrapped up in the blanket that she taxed from Shego's bed.

* * *

Shego was resting on her throne, looking like she had hit a wall after being thrown from a catapult. Her hangover was pretty much gone, but her morning with Bonnie had spoiled her mood for the whole day. She could not even focus on the few documents that she just had to go over to make sure that the city was set for the winter.

"Damn it, get me Director!" Shego ordered in a bellow, letting the whole palace know that she was feeling at her worst. One false move around her today could be someone's death.

The pale ruler fell back onto the large, fluffy cushion that she was sitting on. If Director was not within her presence in a minute there would be hell to pay, she silently decided. She did not care if Betty was more than likely still passed out in her bed, curled up next to an equally unconscious Vivian. The only thing that mattered to her at the moment was all of her whims being catered to; with luck, it would help her feel better.

"Stupid damn kid," Shego grumbled and then she realized that she was thinking of the one person that she did not want to think about. "Damn it, where the fuck is Director!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as she sat up.

"Calm the fuck down," Betty said in a gruff tone as she entered the room. "I've got a bad fucking headache and I don't need to hear your fucking shrieking." She looked about as happy to be in the throne room as a cat would be to be in a room full of mad dogs. After all, she had been having quite the restful sleep next to a beautiful blonde and now she had to deal with the Queen's bullshit. It was not a fair trade.

"I own this fucking place and your bony ass, so you'll listen to whatever the fuck I have to say!" Shego replied in an angry roar. Her face was scrunched up in a menacing scowl.

Servants around the place could already tell the two sour moods from the two most powerful females in the kingdom was not going to go to a good place. They were quietly backing away while the two women continued on with their barking contest. None of them had any desire to be caught in the fallout that could follow.

"What the fuck are you so fucking pissy about?" Betty inquired in a huff. Usually when Shego was upset, Betty would recognize her royal status and just bow to the Queen to move on with her life, especially if Vivian was waiting. Thanks to her hangover and being summoned when she was trying to sleep the pain off, she was not meeting Shego's irrationality with anything aside from annoyance of her own.

"It's none of your fucking concern! Now check this shit over," Shego commanded while rudely kicking all of her work in the direction of Betty.

The one-eyed woman made no point in hiding her shock and anger at being so openly disrespected. She dodged the scrolls, punching on away with the back of her fist and causing it to fly across the room; it nearly hit a servant. Betty glared at Shego with near-hatred in her hard obsidian gaze. A solid, fiery emerald stare was shot back. The servants around the hall gulped; they knew that things were going to get worse before they got better.

"What the fuck is your problem? You think I won't fucking kill you for this bullshit!" the general demanded to know, pointing a threatening index finger at the monarch.

"I'd like to see you fucking try!" the Queen dared her most-trusted official. Her face twisting in a funk as her fury grew with the attitude that she was getting from Director. A vein throbbed in her neck while she made a tight fist.

Betty wasted no time in letting her own outrage short out her brain, taking her leader up on her offer. She charged at Shego and was on the throne before anyone could stop her. It did not help matters that Shego did not have any guards around. She had a dagger in hand, at Shego's throat, while the Queen was gripping Betty's neck, her nails biting into Betty's flesh. They were one step away from murdering each other it seemed. The servants only backed up more.

They locked eyes and acknowledged each other's blazing wrath. Being so close to each other and really seeing each other seemed to bring the two back to their senses. The fire roaring in their gazes rapidly abandoned them as they realized the predicament that they were in.

"The hell are we doing?" Shego inquired, looking rather confused, even though it was not the first time that they had been in such a situation. It probably would not be the last time either.

"Acting stupid," Betty easily admitted as her face returned to normal. She actually looked a bit tired now since she had been sleeping less than five minutes ago.

"Okay, let's back this up and try again," Shego proposed in calm tone. After all, the last thing that she wanted to do was have to tear her second-in-command's throat out. It would only serve to weaken her in the long run.

Betty eased off of the Queen and got off of the throne. The green-skinned woman sat back up and stretched a bit to ease away the bit of tension in her tight form. Betty did the same, rolling her shoulders especially. The one-eyed woman made a note to get a massage later on, hopefully from Vivian.

"Now, first things first, what the hell is your problem?" Betty inquired because she knew that something had to be on the Queen's mind for her to be acting like such a spoiled brat, although she was a spoiled brat.

Shego shook her head for a second and seemed reluctant to talk about what happened. She closed her eyes for a long moment and pinched the bridge of her nose, as if that would help her get her thoughts together. Betty just waited, knowing that she had an explanation coming her way.

"Last night…I fucking slipped," Shego said as if she did not believe it. She shook her head again and then looked up with utter disappointment in her eyes. She was apparently disappointed with herself.

"You slipped? What, with your little hellcat I'll bet," Betty commented with an amused half-smirk, shaking a finger at the Queen while she was at it. She saw something like that happening.

"Yeah, it was with the little hellcat," Shego confessed, sucking her teeth afterwards.

Betty shrugged; it seemed like something that Shego would do. The way that she had been trying the petite cupbearer was suspicious and now it seemed to lead right where Betty figured it would. And then her mind was hit with a relevant thought; she was sure that it would have come to her sooner if her head were not thumping almost in complete rhythm with her heart.

"You slipped with a Westerner," Betty stated, her face looking quite shocked and perplexed. Her eyebrows curled up while her mouth was slightly open.

"Yeah," Shego replied somberly. She sighed and shook her head again before rubbing her forehead with her hand.

"And she was drunk last night. Shit, how much did she freak out?" Betty asked curiously. She had noticed last night that Bonnie had been bothered by her and Vivian's behavior, which she knew was because two women being together was not a norm where Bonnie was from.

"I think she thinks I took advantage of her," Shego explained, and she knew that she was putting things mildly. Bonnie more than likely thought the worst, which was so bad that the Queen could not even say it in her mind.

"Well, didn't you? She wouldn't have slept with you if she wasn't drunk," Betty argued the obvious, making a sweeping motion with one hand to emphasize her point.

"I was drunk too! And she smelled so good…" the pale woman riposted, even though she knew that it was not a good excuse. She trailed off as she almost started thinking about the aroma coming from Bonnie, but she stopped herself. She had lost control over herself last night and that was on her. She had not meant to take advantage of Bonnie's inebriated state, but by the gods, the younger woman smelled so sweet and she had such a fire in her; two things known to make Shego weaker in will than she would like to have admit.

"Why not just talk to her? I know it's a foreign concept with you and all, but it could help," the one-eyed woman suggested, shrugging as she spoke.

"She doesn't want me near her right now. She ran out of my room bawling her eyes out. You'd have thought her ass was on fire the way she got out of there. I can't even imagine how she must feel," Shego muttered bitterly and angrily, punching the pillow underneath her. She actually felt ashamed of herself as she recalled how terrified Bonnie looked, even though it had not been exactly what Bonnie thought.

"You just left her like that?" Betty asked incredulously. She looked utterly baffled if that was the case. Surely the Queen was not that cold-hearted and stupid to just leave the cupbearer broken and alone.

"Shit, you're right. I'll get her an attendant," Shego said while rubbing her face. She fell back onto her pillow again. Damn it, she really fucked up, she said to herself.

Now that she thought about how she left Bonnie, Shego actually felt worse. She had already been feeling ashamed and disappointed with her actions, but now she felt like the lowest of the low. She could not believe that she had not thought to get someone to take care of Bonnie after the younger woman's expression had practically ruined her morning. She could guess just how torn up Bonnie had to feel and despite the fact that she was trying not to think about the Westerner, she knew deep down that there was no way that she could just leave Bonnie to deal with it all on her own.

Shego knew that she had to send someone special to watch over and take care of Bonnie. Someone that would comfort Bonnie…but, not too much. She knew that there was someone perfect for the job. She looked down at Betty with a pondering expression on her face, which let Betty know she was considering who to send. Betty started thinking on the matter too and their expressions transformed into realization at the same time. They knew just who to send.

"Yeah, she'll definitely take care of the hellcat until we can talk," Shego thought quietly with a nod.

* * *

Bonnie was on her bed curled into a fetal position, still wrapped in Shego's bedspread, clutching it tightly to her body. It had yet to register to her mind that she had taken the cover with her from the Queen's bed. It did provide her with a warm, soothing feeling, even though it did not chase away the total misery that she was experiencing.

She had cried her last tears almost an hour ago, which had not improved her headache in the slightest. The soreness around some of the other parts of her body was finally starting to vanish. Her cheeks were stained with dried tears. Her face was flushed, her eyes were red, and there were bags underneath her eyes. Her breathing was ragged and she was really exhausted from all of her wailing earlier. She suddenly looked up as she sensed a presence looking down at her.

Turquoise eyes fell up a near-platinum blonde hair that was framing a rather kind-looking face belonging to woman that Bonnie knew could not be any older than she was. She wondered who the newcomer was, but she did not really care. She did not want to see any barbarians right now, especially barbarian women.

"Oh, my, you do look quite down," the woman commented, smiling an understanding smile. She was dressed in rich purple silks, wearing the cloth in a dress that hugged her form. The dress had a butterfly pattern running through out it.

"Go away," Bonnie grumbled, but she did not take her eyes off of the newcomer. She was going to watch every single barbarian in her presence now.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. I was sent by the Queen to take care of you. I'm Tara Porter," the blonde answered with another sweet smile.

"Porter?" Bonnie echoed. The family name sounded very familiar.

Tara only smiled. She figured that it would not be a good time to explain that she was Vivian's niece since the whole situation had been explained to her. She felt rather sorry for Bonnie for falling apart over the circumstances, which was why she had eagerly agreed to attend to the western princess when Betty and Shego requested that she take care of Bonnie. Besides, she was a sucker for doing favors for Betty, much like she was when it came to her aunt.

"Might I first suggest a hot bath? I've already had servants fill the tub," Tara informed the emotionally scarred female.

"Go away," Bonnie repeated her order, sounding much harsher than before. She did not want to take a bath. She did not want to be naked at the moment, especially not in front of a barbarian woman.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that until you're feeling more like yourself."

"Go away!" Bonnie shrieked and she threw one of smaller bed pillows at the obnoxious blonde.

Tara was not surprised by that behavior, having seen and thrown enough tantrums in life to know what happened in them. She merely dodged the pillow by moving to her left; her expression was almost bland as she made the move. She waited to see if another pillow was going to come her way, but after a few seconds figured out that Bonnie did not have the strength to throw another one.

"Come on, the bath will make your body feel a lot better," Tara informed the western princess. She did not want to say why she knew that Bonnie needed to get the knots out of her body.

Bonnie wanted to grumble more protest, but she had a feeling that would not get the blonde to go away and she would like to get some of the soreness out of her muscles. She sat up, wrapping the blanket around her as tightly as she could as she moved. Tara only smiled a bit and motioned with her hand for Bonnie to follow her.

The blonde led Bonnie into the room that held her bath, which was built into the floor. The tub was rectangular and up against the wall, which had a tiled mosaic on it. The bath was full of steamy hot water, along with a few other ingredients that were meant to make the bath soothing. Bonnie was about to get in, but then she looked at Tara, who knew just what was going on in Bonnie's head.

"I'll step out for the moment," Tara informed the shy princess.

Bonnie nodded while Tara exited the room, leaving Bonnie alone. The hostage looked around to make sure that no one was around. Once she was certain that she was alone, she finally allowed the sheet to fall from her form and she quickly descended into the bath water. The hot water almost immediately eased some of the tension from her body, but she was still shaken. She was actually physically trembling again.

Bonnie tried to get a hold of herself, both physically and mentally. She wrapped her arms around herself and started crying again. She did not stop until she certainly felt like someone was around her. She turned to her right to see Tara putting a goblet down on the edge of the bath. Bonnie attempted to cover herself and Tara could not help giggling.

"You don't have to worry. I was just bringing you this for your headache. You shouldn't stay in too long," Tara warned the princess.

"Umm…." Bonnie was not sure what to say.

"Don't worry about it," Tara said with a bright smile and a playful wink, which surprisingly enough did not bother Bonnie as much as she thought it would. "So, just drink that and your head should feel a lot better."

Bonnie nodded to show that she understood and Tara exited the room again. She knew that Bonnie needed that drink without even knowing about what happened at the festival last night. She saw her aunt enough after nights with Shego, Betty, and Kim to know that just being in their general area meant getting drunk. It was one of the reasons that she did not hang out with Kim during festivals, even though they were good friends.

The brunette captive made her way to the abandoned goblet and drank. She was surprised by the bitter taste, but decided to finish it since she was told that it would help her headache, which was throbbing. She finished it over the course of twenty minutes.

"You should get out now," Tara called from the other room. She noticed that Bonnie was a bit shy about being naked at the moment, so she was going to give the aqua-eyed woman her space. "There's a robe on the stand on the right wall," the blonde informed Bonnie.

Bonnie looked over to where Tara was directing her and saw that there was a white robe waiting for her. Wow, Tara was thorough, she thought. She exited the water and put on the rather warm robe. She left the room to see Tara shooing some servants out of the room.

"I had some breakfast brought in for you," Tara informed the princess and she motioned over to the bed.

Bonnie was a bit taken back by the sight of a small feast laid out on a low table that was by her bed. She went to eat while Tara just stood back for a moment. Bonnie ate for a few minutes and then turned to Tara.

"Um…you want some?" Bonnie offered the blonde. She just felt like she needed to offer since Tara was being so kind to her.

"Oh, no, that's all right. I ate earlier," Tara replied politely. Little did Bonnie know, but it was actually late in the afternoon. Tara had eaten lunch already.

"So…you're a servant around here?" Bonnie asked curiously as she turned back to her meal.

Tara giggled, as if she had just been told a joke. "Oh, no. Nothing of the sort."

"Then…why?" Bonnie asked, appearing more bewildered than she sounded. She did not understand why Tara was being so wonderful toward her, so for some reason, her mind figured that the blonde woman was just a slave or something.

"I didn't have anything better to do and Betty asked me to make sure you're all right," the blonde explained with a shrug and a smile.

Bonnie frowned at the name, which Tara noticed and did not like much. The blonde decided not to say anything about the princess' expression, even though Betty was pretty much her aunt too. That was not relevant and Bonnie was not having the best day, so Tara could leave things be. Her patience was one of the reasons that Betty volunteered her for the job.

"What are they all talking about me or something now?" Bonnie inquired, some hurt buried under the fury in her voice.

"I don't know who all is, but Betty and the Queen are pretty concerned about you and from what I can tell, they should be." Tara paused as she watched anger rip across Bonnie's face and she knew why that was. "Look, they're not talking about you. The Queen actually wants to talk _to_ you about what happened last night."

"Well, I don't want to talk to her!" Bonnie barked, her mouth curving into a deep frown.

"She didn't think you would."

"Oh, so you're here to soften me up for her?" Bonnie asked with an attitude. Just when she was starting to like Tara, she thought with a huff. Of course the blonde was a spy for the damn Queen.

"No, I'm just here to make sure you're all right, but in the body and in the mind. So, that means if you want to talk about what happened, I'm here to listen," Tara explained, motioning to herself with her hands.

Bonnie scowled and looked away for a moment. She then turned back to the blonde with a near heartbroken expression on her face. Tara knew what that was about; hey, everyone that partied in the palace had that one nigh that they could not remember what the hell happened. It was quite the scary, unnerving thing.

"I don't know what happened," Bonnie practically sobbed.

"Don't worry, you're not the first person it's happened to around here. Besides, considering the company you were keeping last night, I'm surprised you're even awake right now," Tara remarked, laughing just a bit. She knew that her aunt was still sleeping and she knew that Betty would still be asleep if Shego had not summoned the one-eyed woman. Hell, she had tried to get in contact with Kim just in case the redhead was up and about, but Kim was in bed too.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie inquired, looking at Tara with a pleading expression. She needed an explanation.

"Well, first, we all get a little carried away during festivals, but you were hanging out with some heavy drinkers. You probably didn't realize that you were drinking a lot more than you usually would, but I'm sure you were. It happens to anyone that hangs out with those three at a festival or celebration. I've tried it a few times, but I pass out after a while," Tara reported with a light giggle.

"How can you laugh at something like that?" Bonnie asked in a panic. "Doesn't it bother you to not remember like that?"

"Well, I guess I'm used to it and I trust those three. Whenever I pass out around them, they take me home and put me to bed rather than just leaving me where I fall."

"Well, I didn't like being put to bed," the princess huffed.

Tara nodded a bit and looked at the floor. "That's something that you need to talk to the Queen about. I do want you to know that she didn't mean to hurt you. I've been under the impression that she actually likes you a lot. I've been hearing about you all over the palace and I hear the Queen let's you get away with murder."

"And that excuses what she did to me!" Bonnie demanded to know, her expression more furious than her fiery tone.

"I didn't say that. I'm not here to argue about that either. She was wrong, plain and simple. She's not proud of it," Tara replied.

"She shouldn't be!"

"And she's not. You know, sometimes, the Queen makes poor decisions in her personal life. She likes you a lot, though. Don't think that she did this to hurt you or because she's some monster. She really likes you," Tara tried to assure the princess. Betty told her as much and she believed the one-eyed woman.

Underneath it all, Bonnie honestly wanted to believe the blonde's words. Shego had been rather good to her during her stay, way better than she expected. She never had anything to really fear while being in the Goh Empire, until last night anyway. She had never felt wanted in the odd way that Shego made her feel with the way that the Queen called her to go wherever Shego went, even if the monarch did not need someone to pour her wine. But, Shego ruined it by showing her true colors. Bonnie began shaking again as she thought about what happened.

"Calm down," Tara said in a gentle tone when she noticed that Bonnie was having an episode. "Breathe deeply," she instructed the brunette.

Bonnie ignored the blonde's advice for a moment, but Tara insisted and so Bonnie obeyed. After a few deep breaths, the western princess noted that she was feeling better. She offered Tara a small smile as thanks, which got her a warm smile of appreciation in return.

"I know it's scary to not know what happened last night. But, thankfully, some of it should come back to you soon and you'll get an idea that the Queen isn't as evil as you think she is," Tara said, speaking in a gentle tone.

"Even if that's the case…it's still wrong," Bonnie argued strongly.

"Well, yeah, she was wrong. You were drunk, after all. Sure, she was drunk too—" Tara was going to keep going, but the foreigner cut in.

"No, it's still all wrong!" Bonnie barked, holding her head. None of it was right.

It took Tara a moment to catch on; she was not always so quick to pick certain things up. "Oh, right. Where you're from, a female couple isn't…normal," she commented, almost like she could not understand. She actually did not comprehend it, but she could be empathetic without having to totally fathom the thing that bothered a person.

"No, it's downright disgusting!" Bonnie declared.

"Now, wait a minute, that's not fair," Tara argued. She was not about to let anyone claim that her Aunt Vivian's relationship was disgusting just because she happened to be with another woman. "Now, you might not agree with it, but it's not something bad."

"Yes, it is," Bonnie insisted vehemently.

"No, it's not and it's kinda normal around here. Look, where you come from, guys hook up with guys, right?"

Bonnie was silent for a moment and then she nodded. "They do," she confirmed in a mumble.

"Same there here, but women do it too. What's wrong with that? If guys can do it, why can't the girls?" Tara inquired.

Bonnie opened her mouth to argue, but she found out that she could not. Usually she would say that just because men did something did not mean that women could, but she saw that around at least Shego's end of the Goh Empire that gender lines were blurred to the point where they probably did not really exist. She would have thought poorly of such behavior if she had not been experiencing it for over a month and reaping some satisfaction from it considering the things that she got to do and see. Her shoulders fell a bit because she was not sure what to say or what to do.

"Hey, I'm not here to one-up you. I'm just here to try to make you feel better. A step in the right direction would be to talk to the Queen…when you're ready of course," Tara stated.

"Even if it's okay here for two women to be together, she still….she still…" Bonnie shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I know. Don't even think about it now. Just enjoy your breakfast. You can take your time working through that," Tara promised.

"Thank you…" Bonnie muttered. It was probably the first time that she had ever uttered such words in her life. Tara only smiled.

* * *

Next time: Shego tries to clear up what happened. Will Bonnie believe her?


	10. Where to begin

I don't own these characters.

A/N: just to clear up from the last chapter when Tara asks Bonnie about male homosexuality happening where she comes from is something brought on from Ancient Rome, Greece, and Japan since male homosexuality was in these cultures. I brought it up because you rarely, if ever, hear about female homosexuality being acceptable in any culture, but male homosexuality seems almost common in the Ancient world. So, male homosexuality is something accepted in Bonnie's culture, but not female.

10: Where to begin

Bonnie and Tara had become fast friends over the course of a couple of days. Bonnie remained in her apartments for those days, not wanting to risk seeing Shego. Tara came there every morning and stayed until Bonnie fell asleep late a night. They mostly talked about "girly" or "wealthy" things; many things Bonnie was shocked a barbarian even thought about.

All of her life, Bonnie had been brought up to think that barbarians were uncultured, filthy sub-humans that only thought about warfare and killing. She had been told that they did not know anything about the finer things in life, like wonderful silk, fine wine, or refined games. Now, she saw that was not true from her stint in the Goh Empire, but Tara was proving that wrong even more so than others had already done.

Tara was nothing like the other Goh citizens that Bonnie had been meeting through out her month with Shego. Tara was not a soldier. She also was not an engineer of any kind, working in the Goh war machine. She did not have any role in the Goh army.

Tara was pretty much just a regular young noblewoman, although she did admit that she sneaked around to be in an entertainment troupe as an acrobat and dancer. Like most places, in the Goh Empire, being an entertainer was sort of like the bottom of the social standing. It was not right for a woman of Tara's status to be sneaking around in a troupe and she would definitely be in a lot of trouble if she was ever found out.

The pair connected through Tara showing Bonnie some of her moves. Bonnie easily picked up on them and confessed that she had always been interested in dancing. Bonnie used to practice moves in secret, knowing that if her father or her sisters ever caught her, there would be hell to pay.

"That explains why your body looks like that," Tara commented with a bright smile. She had wondered about Bonnie being built something like her and Kim.

Bonnie looked confused for a moment, thinking that she was being insulted. She then remembered that her form was not so unusual in the Goh Empire. She smiled back at Tara, not sure what to say to the observation.

"One day, we should go out and I'll introduce you to my troupe. You'll love it," Tara offered.

"That would be great," the foreign princess agreed. She had never been out to dance and she had never been introduced to troupe before. She would not mind it and was already looking forward to it.

Bonnie felt rather comfortable around Tara; it was not an unusual phenomenon when Tara was involved. The blonde was a warm individual, after all. Tara liked making people comfortable around her; it was a Porter family trait. Besides, Tara found herself liking Bonnie, even though the western princess had a bit of an edge to her that was not user friendly. She was willing to bet that that was one of the characteristics that lead the Queen to like Bonnie. It was something that she personally could do without.

Other than the edge, Tara liked that Bonnie was interested in some of the same things that she was interested in. It was also nice to be around someone that was not a warrior. It was very rare for Tara to meet up with someone not connected to the Goh war machine in someway, so it was refreshing to have Bonnie around. They could talk about anything and fighting never came up.

The two were currently sitting in one of Bonnie's room around a fire. It was a particularly chilly day, alerting them that winter was truly upon them. They were chatting while sharing a platter of various little snack foods, many of which Bonnie had never heard of. They had drinks too, not too sweet and not strong.

"If you were here this summer, we could have gone to the market. They had a lot great things there in summer, especially this summer. Me and my aunt went crazy there," Tara reported with a laugh while taking a piece of flat bread with honey from the platter.

"Aunt?" Bonnie questioned curiously, an eyebrow arched. She then sipped from her small golden goblet.

"Oh, you've kinda met her before. My aunt Vivian. She's like a mother to me since my mom died when I was little. I don't even really remember my mom, but my aunt's been there for me forever as far as I can tell," Tara answered, sounding quite fond of her aunt. She doubted that her voice or expression would ever do her feelings justice. The affection that she felt for her aunt was brilliant because Vivian was like a mother to her.

"Vivian?" Bonnie echoed and then she looked thoughtful for a moment.

"The blonde woman with Betty," Tara decided to fill her in. She was not too sure if Bonnie was going to remember her aunt since Bonnie was not showing any signs of remembering the night of the festival.

Bonnie's face scrunched up a bit and then she recalled the rather frisky blonde woman that had been with Betty, not just at the festival, but at the celebration from the first night that she was there. She then looked at Tara and realized that she might have offended the blonde, considering the fact that she had not spoken highly of Betty or female couples when they met. Tara smiled, that sweet, caring, understanding smile that she had.

"It's okay," Tara assured her friend while finishing off her piece of sweet bread. She went in for another bit.

Bonnie was going to say something, but then suddenly she was starting to remember other things from the festival. She had been drinking a lot, like Tara told her was probably the case because of the company that she had been keeping that night. They had been having a good time though, she recollected. She could not recall going into Shego's bedroom, though.

"So, are you…?" Bonnie asked, trailing off because she did not know how to finish the inquiry without sounding rude. She was not looking to chase the blonde off, so she was trying to figure out what would be the best way to ask what she wanted to know.

"What?" Tara countered, not sure where her new friend was going with her unfinished question.

"Um…into women too?"

Tara chuckled a bit. "Oh, not really." The blonde then began to blush and play with her hands.

"Oh, you have a secret. Do tell," Bonnie urged.

"No, no, no. If I tell you a secret, you have to tell me one in return," the good-natured woman bargained.

Bonnie did not think that was such a big thing. It was not like she had any real secrets and even if she did and she told Tara, soon she would be home and being in the Goh Empire would seem like a bad dream. Their exchange of secrets was really just for entertainment as far as she was concerned.

"Well, I used to have a crush on Kim's husband," Tara started.

"Kim? You mean the Queen's sister?" Bonnie inquired, sounding interested already. It seemed that the blonde had a rather deep secret.

"Yeah, that Kim. She's a friend of mine. Before she married her husband, I had a big crush on him while she had a big crush on someone that she shouldn't have," Tara said in a bit of a singsong voice because she was rather amused.

"Oh?" Bonnie asked, intrigued with what the blonde was talking about. It was something that she could use against that pest of a princess if she ever left her apartments again.

"Yeah," Tara paused and blushed a bit more. "He's a musician that plays in the Queen's court a lot…"

"You like him now?" Bonnie guessed because of the coy way that Tara was behaving. She was willing to bet that whoever Tara liked now was a step up from Kim's husband. She had not seen much of the blonde male since he did not hang around the palace that often, but what she did see was not impressive to her. He was loud most of the time, talking too often and about nothing of any importance in her opinion, his hair was a mess, and he wandered around with a naked rodent in his pocket. She did not even add on that he was not the most affectionate husband in the world because she had not seen him even hold hands with Kim. She did not understand how a princess, which Kim was, was allowed to marry such an obvious idiot.

Tara looked away and nodded mutely while smiling. She had gotten over her crush on Ron only to follow along Kim's crush. It was almost like they had changed emotions, although she had gotten over Ron a few months before Kim had taken notice of the guy. Now, if only she could do something about her crush aside for have an affair.

"So, what're you, messing around with him?" Bonnie asked. She had lived quite the sheltered life, but she was old enough to know that noblewomen sometimes had affairs with men that they were not supposed to, namely men that were not their husbands or men that were below their status.

Tara giggled shyly and shook her head. "No, I don't want it to seem meaningless. I mean, I really like him and he really likes me. My aunt told me that I should tell him to join the army and it should be all right for us to really be together, but I don't want him to be gone for most of the year. It would be nice though because my father wouldn't be mad about it when he finds out."

Bonnie nodded. "At least you have a way to get around it." She doubted that there would be a way for her to get around something like wanting to marry someone beneath her. Her father was going to tell her who to marry and that was that, she knew that for a fact.

"Yeah, I'm going to talk to Betty about it soon and maybe she'll help," Tara said with a small smile and a nod. She knew that Betty would help her, but she was not sure how the help would come or what extent the help would go to.

"She can help?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah. You don't get that close to the Queen and not be able to get away with a few things. You should know that," Tara answered, teasing a bit.

The good-will hostage made a face and huffed a bit. "Whatever," she replied with an attitude while turning her nose up for a moment.

"Okay, now, you have to tell me what I want to know," Tara said.

"Go ahead and ask me something," Bonnie replied with a shrug. She doubted that the blonde could even come up with something truly scandalous because she was quite the little sweetheart. Tara probably wanted to know something silly, the brunette thought.

"Do you like the Queen?" Tara asked curiously, a sly smirk gracing her soft features.

Bonnie appeared shocked by that for a second and took a sip from her cup to cover up her surprise. She honestly had not been expecting something like that to come up, which explained why her aqua eyes were wide for a moment and her eyebrows shot up. Tara was kind enough not to laugh at the face Bonnie was currently making. Bonnie had to take a deep breath after her drink went down in order to calm herself enough to answer the question.

"I…I never really thought about it," the princess answered. "If I did, I don't anymore," she decided right then and there.

"Yeah? You should think about it. Are you going to talk to her about what happened any time soon?" the blonde asked curiously, cocking her head to the side slightly as she spoke. Her sky-colored eyes were laced with deep concern because she knew that the only way for Bonnie and the Queen to move on was to talk about what happened, but the tanned hostage did not seem eager to talk.

"I don't know," Bonnie admitted and now she was getting a bit annoyed, which could be heard in her voice. Her eyes flashed a bit, showing her change in mood. She did not want to discuss that incident.

"You should. If you let it fester, you'll get a…a…" Tara stopped and tried to think of the word that she wanted. "A phobia," she finished. She hoped that the word that she was looking for was "phobia."

Bonnie laughed a bit, figuring that Tara actually meant to say "trauma" and not "phobia." Either way, she knew what the blonde meant. If she did just allow the unknown to stay on her mind, she would eventually be bothered by Shego's very existence. Shego could turn into some big scary monster in her mind and she did not need that. She was not going to allow any more monsters in her life considering the fact that she had only recently gotten rid of two of them; those two would be her older sisters. She just wanted to get her head together before being around Shego again.

Thanks to Tara, Bonnie was left to ponder certain things, which she did late that night while she was alone and lying in bed. Did she like Shego? She had not considered it before. It seemed stupid to her to like Shego when Shego was her captor. Shego was the one that held her prisoner while waiting for tribute from her father. Shego was the one that got her sent to barbarian lands, but oddly enough, she had stopped resenting those facts days into her stay in the Goh Empire.

She supposed that she did like Shego, before the incident anyway. Beyond the fact that Shego irked her by making her a servant and always winning their verbal bouts, she guessed that Shego was pretty good to her. Shego had given her a half-dozen of her own rooms in the palace with servants at her call when she was there. Shego included her in all of her activities, especially ones that the Queen found to be fun. Shego, despite teasing her a lot, never really spoke down to her or in a condescending manner, even when Bonnie was being quite rude. And, more often than not, Shego treated her nice and with respect; it was not something that she was used when it came to people that she was close to.

"I'm not close to that barbarian," Bonnie corrected her brain as she frowned. The correction did not deter her thoughts in the slightest; her mind went over it like a small bump in the road.

She actually was close to Shego. She had spent more time with Shego in that month than she had with anyone that she could think of at home. Before her sisters married and moved to other cities to be with their prince husbands, she had tried her best to spend time with them. They would let her be around, but only because they had fun making her feel like crap and when they grew bored with that, they would leave her on the brink of tears. Shego never did anything like that. Hell, the Queen had not even tried to do anything like from what she could tell.

She had never been close to her mother, even though her mother tried very hard to change that. Her mother was annoying, overprotective female that could not get any attention from Steve, so tried to get it from her daughters, Bonnie especially. Bonnie guessed that her mother's attitude toward her had to do with the fact that she was the baby of the bunch, but she did not care about the reason. She did not like receiving second-hand affection, knowing that if her mother just got some acknowledgement from her father, the woman probably would not even know who she was.

And then there was her father; he was a real piece of work. Having no sons seemed to have made him bitter toward her mother, her sisters, and her. He never really bothered with them unless they could prove to be useful in his job of ruling over the city, which was why Bonnie was in the situation that she was currently in and why her sisters had been forced to marry men with questionable morals, and that was putting it nicely. So, Bonnie was not close to any of her family.

She actually never had any real friends, as far as she knew anyway. She always believed that anyone that spent time with her did it because she was a princess and they were someone how trying to gain favor with her father. Nothing like that was happening now. After all, Shego and Tara did not have any need to gain favor with her father. Tara did not even have to use her to gain favor with Shego considering the fact that the blonde was already friends with the Queen's little sister and her aunt was with one of Shego's most trusted officials.

So, maybe she did like Shego…before a couple of days ago anyway, her mind added. Now, she was certain that she hated the barbarian queen. She hated what Shego had done to her, even if she could not remember what it was. She figured by now that her mind had done an accurate job on figuring out what happened, especially since the Queen had admitted fault and was keeping her distance.

As Bonnie thought about it, tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. She had been crying about the incident whenever she was alone, which was one of the reasons she disliked when Tara left for the night. It was somewhat rare for her to cry, not counting the past few days anyway. It used to happen after her sisters had taken their time to thoroughly berate her for a few hours. She tried not to consider what it meant for Shego to have the power to reduce her to tears. She attempted to assure herself that it was only normal for her to weep after what happened to her.

And then suddenly, Bonnie's brain offered up a piece of a memory of the night in question. Nothing else came up after of it, but it was enough to confuse Bonnie. She wanted to shake it away, dismiss it as a lie, but it was there. It was there much clearer than anything else her mind had come up with that night. Now, she had much more to think about it and it was just plain crazy in her opinion.

After a few more days of those thoughts, Bonnie decided that it was time to talk to Shego. She needed to know what happened that night and why. She needed to know where she stood with the Queen. She needed to move on.

The western princess just was not sure where she should speak to the Queen. She did not want to be alone with the Queen, but then again, she did not want a bunch of people around as they spoke on such a private matter. That did not leave her with many options.

Bonnie took a deep breath and ordered herself to stop acting like a coward and like she was afraid of Shego. She calmed herself down after a few seconds, feeling that she was ready to meet with the green-skinned monarch. So, she told Tara that she was ready to talk to Shego and was a bit surprised when she was informed that the Queen would come to her as soon as possible. Maybe Shego really was sorry for what she had done, Bonnie considered.

The tanned female began to pace her room while waiting for Shego. She wondered what was going to happen. Was she going to be able to see that Shego was sorry for what happened? Was Shego going to prove to be a jackass and was only pretending that she regretted what she had done? She hoped for the former, but expected the latter; both of which bothered her. They both showed that Shego had some kind of power over her, over her emotions.

"No, she doesn't have any kind of power over me," Bonnie promised herself. Her emotions were not going to be made or broken because of some barbarian queen who could not control herself.

Still, her nerves began to jump while her heart sped up with every second that passed. What was Shego going to say to her? What were they going to do? Were things going to be able to go back to normal afterwards? Did she want things to go back to normal? What was normal anyway? Whatever normal was, a little voice in the back of her mind told her that she certainly did want things to go back to that.

* * *

"You wanted to see me," Shego said as she entered Bonnie's front room, where Bonnie had been entertaining Tara.

The Queen came in with her usual powerful stride, but her tone was not her typical tone. She wanted to sound normal for some reason, but she did not. She was not sure how to assert herself in a situation that was certainly her fault. She could put forth her usual walk and stance from force of habit, as that was how her body was used to moving, but her voice was not going along with that. She could not even look at Bonnie when she entered the room; her emerald eyes watching the floor, ceiling, and walls. She looked everywhere but in the eyes of the person that she wronged, even though she wanted desperately to look Bonnie in the eye.

Shego dared think that it was almost as if she feared the younger woman. Maybe not fear her, but maybe she did fear her judgment. When was the last time someone's opinion mattered to her in her personal life? She could not recall. She did not like it; it seemed like a weakness. She was too powerful to be fearful in her opinion, yet there she was, unable to sound like herself or even look her cupbearer in the face. The most that she could do was stand like she was in charge for the moment, but she hoped that that wound change as she took in the situation and learned what was going on.

Tara and Bonnie turned their attention away from each other to the raven-haired monarch. They were reclined on pillows; neither thought to stand up because the Queen entered the room. They were a bit stunned by her presence considering the fact that the message had only gone out ten minutes ago that Shego was wanted.

"Uh…yeah," Bonnie answered while trying her best to not look and sound as surprised as she was. She could not look the Queen in the face either, despite the fact that she swore that she was ready to talk. Her heart sped up again and her nerves started twitching again. She tried her best not to show that, but keen jade eyes locked onto her form and she was found out.

"Tara, your aunt wants you to make sure Betty makes it to the villa. I left her with Kimmie," Shego reported as if it was nothing. She glanced at Bonnie, seeing that the princess' hands were shaking a bit. Okay, so she was not the only one nervous and uncomfortable with the situation, which settled her. Shego decided to steel herself because she knew that she needed to be herself for things to go the right way. She wanted to be in control of the situation and knowing that Bonnie was really nervous allowed her that control, or so she thought.

"Oh, no," Tara muttered as she rushed out of the room, bidding Bonnie farewell without turning around. She needed to get to Betty soon or there would be no way for her to get the brunette home.

Shego looked amused as Tara hurried out of the room. She knew what the blonde was thinking she would have to go through to get Betty to the villa, but Betty was not drunk, so there was really nothing for Tara to worry about. Sure, she, Kim, and Betty had been hanging out, but they were playing chess and discussing plans for the future instead of drinking. The green-skinned ruler then turned her attention to Bonnie while making sure to stay right where she was.

Tara had already informed the Queen just how uncomfortable Bonnie was with talking about her, so she could only imagine that being in the same room with her was quite crushing. Well, it was time to test Bonnie's strength, Shego's mind commented. It would be quite the thing if the sweet little hellcat could stand being in the same room as her and they could talk things out.

Well, since Shego now decided that she was testing Bonnie's strength, she stepped further into the room. She noticed Bonnie flinch just a bit as she closed the distance between them by half. She stopped for a moment; the unfamiliar emotion of guilt and something else nipping at her brain, telling her not to scare the younger woman. Bonnie visibly relaxed when Shego halted.

Bonnie took a deep breath to settle herself. While she did that, Shego took a moment to get herself together. They both waited for their heart rates to go somewhere close to normal. They also took sometime to force their usual personalities back into place while also reminding themselves that they had to play things right or nothing would get solved. After almost a minute of that, they were finished getting themselves together.

The foreign princess then beckoned the Queen to sit down. Shego was surprised by the offer; it would seem that Bonnie was going to bear through her presence. The pale woman took the seat that Tara had just been occupying, which was a large pillow across from Bonnie. The westerner willed herself not to react in anyway to Shego's closeness and it worked.

Both women were quiet for a long time. They stared at each other, as if they were trying to will the other to break. Now, they both knew that they needed to talk, but neither of them wanted to start the discussion. Stubbornness seemed to be a quality that was going to do them both a bad turn until one of them caved in.

"Well?" Bonnie pressed with an attitude. She had been hearing talk of how ashamed Shego was and how she was sorry, but the Queen damn sure was not expressing that right now. She seemed more ashamed when she came in than she did now.

"Hey, you called me here," Shego replied as if that was a valid excuse for why she was being so tightlipped.

Honestly, Shego had come to the room with the intent to apologize and promise never to touch the younger woman again, but seeing Bonnie now, she knew that was a lie. Right now, her mind was just reminding her how sweet Bonnie tasted. In fact, her mind was making matters worse by telling her that she was drunk the first time that she tasted Bonnie, so the memory probably was not nearly as good as the realty of it was. There was no way in hell that Shego would be able to keep her word if she promised to never touch Bonnie again. So, now, she did not know what she should say.

"Oh, that's such a damn cop-out!" Bonnie barked, her anger coming out on instinct. Her aqua eyes lit with a blaze that the fires of Hell would envy.

Shego was taken back by the outburst, but she smiled. "Careful there, someone might hear the little princess cursing," she remarked. Teasing was about all she could do now, falling back into her typical behavior because she did not know what else to do.

"Don't make fun of me either! I'm not your damn toy! I'm not something you can play with!" Bonnie shouted while pounding the pillow underneath her with her small fist. The pillow made a low complaint as the blow landed.

Shego could not help smiling; oh, that was wonderful fire there. It only further let her know that she would have been lying if she had come in and made her planned out speech. Bonnie only got more upset because of the Queen's expression. Her face twisted in fury, which only caused Shego to smile more.

"Stop smiling, damn you!" Bonnie hollered as she grabbed the closest item to her, which happened to be a drinking cup. She flung the cup at the Queen with all of her might.

The raven-haired woman caught the projectile with ease; it was thankfully empty. She silently admitted that it was a good throw for an amateur. She then gently placed cup on the floor beside her and then turned her attention back to Bonnie, who was still steaming mad and unknowingly making things harder for the Queen.

"You're just too much," Shego commented and that seemed to be the breaking point.

Bonnie screamed and shot at Shego as if she had been fired from a bow. The Queen fell back as she caught Bonnie by both wrists. The hostage snarled like dangerous beast and tried desperately to tear that smile off of Shego's face. The Queen started laughing, even though she was trying her best not to because she knew that she was just making matters worse.

"Stop laughing!" Bonnie roared and then she suddenly broke down into sobs. She fell against Shego. "Stop laughing…" she muttered weakly.

"Oh, crap," the pale woman mumbled; that damned guilt emotion was stabbing her in the chest full force now that Bonnie was crying.

Shego rapidly shifted her hold on her slender hostage, embracing her as if she was fragile. Bonnie was now weeping on Shego's shoulder while the Queen was holding her with care. Shego sat up to hold the princess in a more comfortable position.

"It's okay, hellcat. It's okay," Shego said in a surprisingly soothing tone.

"Why did you do this to me?" Bonnie sobbed.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Shego apologized quite sincerely. She did not mean to hurt Bonnie. She just wanted to have a good time and she wanted Bonnie to have a good time. She was not having a good time feeling guilty and knowing that she had harmed Bonnie in a rather terrible manner.

"Why?" Bonnie repeated over and over again, like the question was a religious chant that would save them both.

"I was drunk…" Shego started, but she stopped because she knew that was not good enough. "Okay, it's more than me being drunk and you being drunk. You're just so damn tempting," she admitted.

"Tempting?" Bonnie echoed, still crying quite a bit. She sounded as if she did not understand what the raven-haired ruler meant.

"Everything about you makes me want you and you were right there and…" Shego trailed off for a moment.

"And so you force yourself on me!" Bonnie demanded to know, sort of shoving and hitting the Queen with the heel of her hand.

"It didn't happen like that! I'd never do something like that to anyone. I don't need to force myself on anyone. I know you might not remember anything from that night, but you weren't complaining when it was going on. Now, that doesn't excuse what I did, but don't make it sound like I did something worse than I did. It's not a fucking crime to give a person an orgasm as far as I know and considering the fact that I'm the damn Queen, I think I know the law!" Shego declared, looking down at Bonnie, who was looking right back until the end.

Bonnie looked away when Shego was done. The Queen was not sure what that action meant, but she was willing to wait. Bonnie needed to get her mind together to ask her next question. The possible answer scared the princess.

"I enjoyed it…didn't I?" Bonnie whispered. That was the one thing that she truly remembered. Her mind had come up with all sorts of things, but the one real memory that she had was of her clinging to the Queen and crying out about how good things felt. It disturbed her to remember it and to think about it, but she needed to know if that was actually what happened.

"Well, you did tell me not to stop a lot, but then again, I didn't really have any plans on stopping. I can tell you that you didn't hate it," Shego answered modestly. From what she recollected of the night, Bonnie had a better time than she did.

"This is bad…" the princess muttered, speaking more to herself than to her company.

"It's not so bad. I know you think it's weird and everything, but we do things like this in the Goh Empire…women get together I mean. Not the whole 'take advantage of the drunk girl' thing," the pale woman explained in a surprisingly gentle tone. She added a little non-sexual caressing, rubbing Bonnie's back.

"I just…I…" Bonnie was not even sure what she wanted to say. It was just too bizarre for her, even though she was familiar with same-sex relationships. She just was not used to female same-sex relationships.

"You're confused, I know. It's okay."

"Do you like me?" Bonnie asked earnestly, even though she sort of blurted that one out. She needed an answer to that. She was certain that it would help her feel better. She would know where she stood with the strange woman that was the Queen.

Shego looked away because of that question. She was trying to think of the best way to answer. She supposed that she did like Bonnie. The younger female had a fire to her that Shego liked to watch burn. It was a very attractive quality as far as Shego was concerned. Then of course there was Bonnie's fearlessness and how the princess acted as if she was in charge of everything, even when she was so far from home.

"Yeah, I like you," Shego admitted since it was the truth.

"Do I like you?" Bonnie wondered aloud. She still was not sure of that one. The most that she could do was admit to herself that she did not dislike the green-skinned monarch.

"There's a way to find out."

"What way?" Bonnie asked curiously.

Almost as soon as Bonnie finished asking that question, Shego's mouth was on hers. Bonnie was shocked by the move, but the important thing was that she did not pull away. She did not respond to the rather tender kiss either, though.

Bonnie was too busy being amazed by how soft and good Shego's lips felt against her own. She wondered if that was how they felt the other night. She could not remember, but she was willing to bet they did. They probably felt better since she was more relaxed then than she was right now. That thought made her try to will herself into calming down to make the experience more pleasant.

Shego noticed what Bonnie was trying to do, so she tilted her head slightly to change the angle to the kiss. She thought that deepening the embrace would help Bonnie relax. The younger woman almost sighed as she totally calmed down and finally thought to kiss Shego back. The Queen smiled mentally as she felt Bonnie's lips pressing against hers. When they pulled away, Bonnie was breathless.

"I think you like me," Shego commented with a smile.

Bonnie did not have enough air in her lungs to argue that one. She mentally conceded that she did like the kiss, so it would seem that she did like Shego. What was to be done with that information, though? Shego did not give her much of a chance to ponder that, coming in for another kiss. Hey, Bonnie was sweet and Shego liked sweet things.

* * *

Next time: kissing leads to something more.

Notes: Actors, dancers, and entertainers for the most part were usually seen as the bottom of the social structure through out the Ancient world, even though going to shows was one of the few forms of entertainment in the Ancient world. So, that would be why Tara keeps her acrobatics a secret, why Bonnie keeps her dancing a secret, and why Tara cannot marry the musician that she's attracted to. As members of the upper-class, they should only attend shows and not participate in them.


	11. Give and get

I don't own these characters.

11: Give and get

Bonnie was feeling something quite odd; it was delight. She had never felt anything like it. It was like pleasure burning through her veins, but also floating through her body. She did not know what to make of it, but she knew that it was being brought on by the mouth against hers. She was being kissed by Shego.

A voice in the back of the westerner's mind was telling her that what they were doing was wrong, but she was not listening to that because she just wanted more. It felt too good to be wrong and if custom had not taught her anything else, she learned that if something felt good, then do it. She was not totally sure what "it" was; maybe it was kissing Shego, being kissed by Shego, or just being with Shego. Whatever "it" was, it needed to continue in her opinion.

Bonnie could not think too long on the matter because Shego deepened the kiss and caused Bonnie to moan. The princess whimpered a bit as the Queen began caressing her sides with warm, gentle, and very curious fingers. The delight coursing through her seemed to turn into liquid fire as the fingers continued their tender work.

The foreigner was not the only one enjoying herself. Shego was into things too, loving the way that Bonnie felt under her fingertips. Her lips were sweet to the Queen, better than honey, and she craved, needed more. She tried to keep the kiss going for eternity it seemed. Eventually, the younger woman had to pull away for air.

Shego did not care about the princess' action; Bonnie could suck in all the air that she needed. The green-skinned monarch just moved on now that she was started up, looking to map out the willing body in her arms with whatever body parts came to mind. While Bonnie was trying to catch her breathe, Shego began kissing and nipping at her neck. The princess cried out in surprise and pleasure, which was music to the Queen's ears.

"Oh, gods, so good," Shego commented in her head as she continued on tasting Bonnie's delightful flesh. She would have cursed herself for all eternity if she had ruined her chances with the princess, she thought as she had to resist biting down on younger woman's neck.

"Ah, Shego," Bonnie hissed, eyes closing from ecstasy as she moved against the ruler a bit. Her chest was heaving just a little thanks to the feeling that Shego was delivering to her.

The pale woman surprisingly halted her actions at the sound of her name from westerner's sweet mouth. She glanced up at Bonnie, who thought that she might have done something wrong since the magnificent attention halted. The younger woman could not guess what she might have done to upset the Queen, but she hoped that did not mean that the wonderful acknowledgement was going to stop altogether.

As turquoise met emerald, hoping to find out what was hold up, Bonnie found that there was no anger in the Queen's eyes. There was a glint there, hidden underneath a foggy cloud of bliss. Shego looked like a woman on the edge already and nothing had happened by her stance, but Bonnie was too inexperienced to recognize the look.

"Say that again," Shego ordered in a hard, almost cold tone.

"Say what again?" Bonnie inquired, speaking low, as if she was apologizing. She still thought that she might have done something wrong and since she wanted nothing more in the world right now than for the delight to continue, she felt like she needed to be humble for the first time in her life.

"What you just said," the green-skinned female answered in a desperate breath. She hungered to hear her name again like it was ambrosia.

"What did I just say?" Bonnie asked in a curious tone. She could not recall what she uttered just seconds ago. It was too much to remember things while experiencing what the Queen was giving her.

"Never mind. I'll get you to say it again in a minute," Shego stated confidently, her eyes still clouded over from desire. She did not want to bother with things if the tanned female was truly clueless. She was just going to have to work hard to have that nearly orgasmic sound of her name on Bonnie's lips.

Bonnie did not understand what Shego meant and she did not have time to comprehend it. Shego dived back into her task, suckling at Bonnie's throat. The princess moaned again while throwing her head back without any instructions from her brain to do so. Her body just knew to give Shego better access to her skin for the exceptional feeling that she was experiencing to get even better.

The raven-haired woman's hands began roaming Bonnie's petite body. She was thankful that Bonnie was actually back to wearing her tunic because it had open spaces, as long as she could find them underneath all of the cloth. She had no problem journeying through all of the cloth, finding the holes in the attire. Her hands came across soft, begging skin, which she proceeded to explore with gentle, but hungry touches.

Bonnie began moaning again; the noises were soft, but filling the large room. When they reached Shego's ears, it was like fuel to keep her going, keeping her burning. She increased her pressure on Bonnie throat, knowing somewhere in the back of her mind that she was going to end up leaving a mark. She did not care about that, especially since it would only serve to warn people to stay away from her sweet little hellcat.

The Queen's hands were now on a mission to find the clasps to Bonnie's clothes to be rid of the annoying garments. Her fingers were ready to rejoice when they found the golden buckles that held Bonnie's outfit on her body. Her clawed digits wasted no time in undoing the holds.

Bonnie gasped as she felt her clothing falling from her shoulders. She pulled away to cover herself, more from habit than anything else. It took Shego a moment to realize that the sweet taste in her mouth was taken from her. She looked up with a glazed look in her eyes, questioning why things had stopped with her drunken gaze.

"What're you doing?" the princess inquired in a shaky tone, even though she could guess. The thing that scared her more than likely and caused her to pull away was the fact that she was nervous that she wanted things to go right where the Queen wanted them to go.

"Having you," Shego answered the obvious. She needed the younger woman now. She had a taste and she needed more. She craved the aqua-eyed beauty much like her lungs craved oxygen.

"What makes you think that?" Bonnie inquired in a plain tone. She was not sure if she was being serious or if she was teasing. Part of her wanted to stop, but more of her really wanted to keep going. She wanted the Queen to have her.

There was something about Shego that called to Bonnie. The princess was not sure what it was, or even why it was still there after she had been so angry with Shego since the festival, but it was there. Something about the way the Queen looked at her, spoke to her, treated her, and let her act drew her to Shego. It was like Shego respected her, which was not something new for her, but it was a different kind of respect that let her feel something new toward the Queen, that made her desire the warrior in a new way.

"Because you're into it. You're into me. You don't have to be ashamed of it. A lot of people are into me," Shego remarked with a lopsided grin. Now, she was teasing.

Bonnie went stiff as a board. "So, I'm just someone else to add to the list?" she inquired in an accusing tone, hissing like a mad cat as she spoke. She pulled away from Shego even more, as if she was trying to escape the Queen, but Shego was not looking to have that happen. She kept a firm grip on Bonnie and quickly countered before the princess did something stupid, like try to run away.

"You're someone that I want right now and I don't need you getting all bitchy like usual. Why can't you just accept it and experience it? Scared you might enjoy yourself?" Shego asked while tilting her head slightly, making her actually look more demonic than usual. She pressed Bonnie to her, even though the younger woman was trying to resist her.

Bonnie was done yet with being offended. "Don't try to goad me into this like that," she huffed while shoving the Queen, hoping in vain that it would do something.

Shego smiled, looking even more demonic than before. "You're right. I'll try it more like this."

Shego attacked again, pressing her lips against Bonnie's. The princess yelped when the mouth hit hers, but she did return the sweet embrace. Her mouth acted on its own; her brain gave no instructions for her lips to press back against the Queen's hot, delicious mouth. Neither of them were complaining; they were actually both quite happy to be connected again. Not that either of them would ever say such a thing out loud.

Shego leaned forward to lower Bonnie to the pillow that they were resting on. The younger woman moved just as Shego wanted her to until her back was on the pillow and Shego was halfway lying on top of her. The pale woman pulled away as she knew that Bonnie was going to require air soon; she did that just in time. Bonnie's chest heaved as she drew in air.

They stared into each other's eyes, hoping that the other could not see the longing shining in those gems. They could not even hide how much they wanted each other right now. The only thing that might get in their way was Shego's mouth or Bonnie over-thinking things. They both knew that there was a high probability of one of them ruining the moment.

"How about you give this a try while you're nice and sober? After all, you liked it a lot when you were drunk," Shego suggested in a breath, her voice thick with desire.

"A lot?" Bonnie echoed while trying to catch her breath. She was aware that she enjoyed being with Shego during the festival, as that was the only memory that really rang through all of the stories that her mind concocted. But, she was not sure if she wanted a repeat performance, especially while she was in her right mind; being able to rationalize things was actually her problem. If she did like it, she could not explain it away by blaming it on alcohol and a perverted queen. That might plague her mind considering the fact that she was not totally at ease with the idea of two women being together.

Bonnie was not too sure why she thought two women being together was wrong, especially after having her drunken night with Shego. Sex for the sheer pleasure of it was not a foreign concept to her and she knew that there was pleasure to be had with the Queen. Yet, her mind was trying to fight her on being with Shego again, even though it could not think of any good reason. All her brain could offer her was that two women being together was disgusting, nothing further than that.

"What's the problem? Will it kill you to do this?" Shego inquired in a whisper of a voice. She hoped that questioning the princess would get her to see that there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, thus getting them where they wanted and from the feel of things needed to be. She knew that the little taboo journey that they wanted to go on was not something that was thoroughly explained in the West. Two women being together was just seen as being wrong, and was almost never done, especially not out in the open. She figured it was because the West was mostly male dominated and men probably could not fathom how women could enjoy sex without them being around. She needed Bonnie to see beyond that, finding that two people point blank could enjoy themselves if they put their minds to it.

"No…" Bonnie answered hesitantly, hoping to avoid walking into a verbal trap, although her body was begging her to just fall in whatever trap was being laid. Her body just wanted the Queen now, quivering in anticipation for that delightful touch to begin again.

"Will it hurt you in any way to do this?" the green-skinned woman asked.

"Well…I was sore the last time…" Bonnie pointed out lamely, even though she was telling the truth. She looked away while squirming for a couple of seconds, rubbing against the Queen a bit because of her movement.

Shego had to take a moment to exhale because of the princess' actions. The monarch chuckled a bit, looking to take her mind off of what was going on against her. "Sorry about that. I guess I got a little overzealous. You taste so sweet," she said in a seductive whisper.

The sound of Shego's voice was making the tanned princess want to melt, even though she did not totally get it. The green-skinned ruler's hold on her cupbearer loosened somewhat, just to make sure that she was not hurting Bonnie. Her grip was more tender now rather than desperate to keep her prey from escaping.

"I taste…?" Bonnie echoed in a confused tone, her brows coming close together and curling up slightly.

"Yes, you taste sweet," Shego reiterated in a breath, just thinking about how Bonnie tasted made her shudder and she wanted that taste now. She then smiled and decided to be smooth. Maybe a little verbal effort would ease her lover's nerves. She started speaking in a low tone with her lips tantalizing close to Bonnie's mouth. "Like the wine of the gods, my kitten. I would drink you for eternity and you would sustain me, kitten. I would make you cry tears of joy as I showed you that no other taste can rival yours." Shego then placed a soft peck to Bonnie's lips while gently caressing the princess' sides. Bonnie did return the short, little kiss.

"You make it sound so simple…" Bonnie whispered, her voice trembling. Her mouth was silently wishing to stop making words and get to other business thanks to that kiss and those heavenly hands roaming her torso at their own exceptional leisure. Her body felt like it was going to explode or burn out because of the fire that the Queen was creating in her.

"It is just that. Let me show you what you forgot," Shego replied and then she kissed Bonnie once again. It was another soft peck on the lips that was returned again.

"Maybe I'd rather forget," the younger woman teased, feeling like she needed to act more like herself. She did not want the warrior to think that she was wrapped around Shego's little finger, even though she wanted nothing more than for that finger and the nine others to keep touching her as they were.

"You know what, shut the hell up and just let me give us both something," Shego huffed. She was surrounded by smartasses, she thought while fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

Bonnie smiled a bit; apparently she was happy to have gotten to the Queen for once. Shego did not give her a chance to revel in her victory, coming in for another kiss. There was something added into the kiss that Bonnie did not expect; Shego's tongue invaded Bonnie's mouth. The princess gasped in surprise, her eyes going wide for a long second, but that did not stop the pale woman from plundering her mouth. Shego was done being all touchy-feely and nice. Bonnie did not need that. Bonnie just needed someone to take her where she wanted to be, which was something that Shego had no problem doing.

While Bonnie got over the initial shock of having someone else's tongue in her mouth, Shego tore at the tunic that Bonnie was wearing, quickly ridding her of it. Bonnie shivered, whether it was from the sudden chill that was upon her heated skin or just from the excitement that Shego was causing her was debatable, but she did not really care about the reason. With the cloth out of the way, Shego's hands went to work on kneading whatever skin they could find. The contact caused Bonnie to cry out into the Queen's mouth and then Bonnie pushed her away again.

"What now?" Shego huffed in annoyance. She was tense from sexual desire and her mouth turned into a frown since it was no longer being occupied by such lovely and delectable company.

"Can we at least do this on a bed?" Bonnie practically demanded. She believed that she needed to say something, just to avoid being completely lorded over by the Queen. Other than that, she was all for the journey that they were undertaking now that she was so wound up, her body aching with desire. She needed something and she knew that only Shego could cure her of what ailed her, so she was not looking to prevent her treatment.

"Damn it, you want a lot from me, kitten," Shego remarked, a smart-aleck smirk gracing her features for a quick moment.

Bonnie did not appear moved, which did not bother Shego. The pale woman surprised Bonnie and quickly scooped her up in her arms. On instinct, the younger woman threw her arms around the Queen's neck and then realized how easily Shego was holding her up. The older woman was strong, she thought.

Shego did not give Bonnie long to think, resuming their kiss as she marched toward Bonnie's bed. The warrior queen was thankful that there were no servants around; she did not like putting on shows for them. Bonnie would have been right there with that thought.

When they got to the bed, Shego gently eased Bonnie down to the mattress and then pulled away for a second. She wanted to get as good a look at her catch as she could considering the room was dully lit with only a few lanterns. She was a bit surprised, but pleased to see that Bonnie maintained her tanned complexion over her whole body, even though the days were getting shorter with the onset of winter.

Bonnie noticed the mesmerized look in Shego's eyes and a sense of pride spread through her. The way that Shego was looking at her helped build her confidence in the matter, which made it more enjoyable. She even decided to take another zing at the Queen while she had the chance.

"Are you going to do something or just stand and stare at me all day?" Bonnie inquired, making sure to sound like she had an attitude.

Shego growled, as if the comment made her anger, even though all it did was make her want Bonnie all the more. She came in for her next attack, which finally did not take Bonnie by surprise. Shego's mouth hit Bonnie's as if she planned to devour the smaller female. Bonnie wrapped her arms around Shego while the Queen's hands went back to their previous task, fondling Bonnie with great enthusiasm. There was rubbing, clutching, and kneading of every inch of the princess.

Bonnie's hands decided to some moving of their own. She traced the lines on Shego's back, realizing those were muscles that she was feeling. She wanted to feel more, so she ran her hands all over Shego's back. The more rips that she ran into, the more that she wanted to feel. She was starting to think that Shego was the embodiment of power if her sense of touch was accurate.

Shego was only being encouraged farther when she felt Bonnie's small hands running up and down her back. She pulled away rather abruptly from Bonnie's lips and before the princess could complain relocated to another sensitive area. Shego's mouth latched onto a dusky pink peak and started to feast on it while her hand worked on the opposite end. Bonnie arched into her touch while crying out in bliss.

"Oh, gods!" Bonnie quivered as Shego nibbled and caressed her as if she was a fine feast and Shego was famished. The Queen did pull away slightly as soon as those words escaped the tanned female.

"That's not what I want to hear," Shego practically snarled, as if she was honestly upset with the scream of passion.

The pale woman went back at Bonnie with a vengeance, causing the princess to pretty much turn into a clingy puddle in the bed. All Bonnie could do while she held onto Shego was whimper and pled with things to never end, which was not what Shego wanted to hear. The Queen continued on with her expedition while Bonnie writhed underneath her, never saying the one thing that the green-skinned woman wanted to hear. When Shego reached her end point and Bonnie did the same, she finally got what she desired.

"Shego!" Bonnie practically howled long and loud as she felt herself fall off the edge of the world as far as she could tell. She hoped that she never hit the bottom if that was the case.

The pale woman smiled into Bonnie's warm, moist skin. It was about time, she thought. Now she could get to relieving some of her frustration.

Bonnie whined a bit as she felt Shego leave her. She looked down to see what was going on to catch the sight of Shego pretty much tearing her clothes off of herself. Bonnie wondered what the Queen was doing now; she hoped that it was something that felt just as good as what Shego just did.

It hardly took ten seconds for Shego to get out of her clothes; she was thankful that she did not have to wear layers like everyone else. She was back to Bonnie in a flash, kissing her forcefully while their skin brushed up against each other. Bonnie hissed because of the sensation, having never felt anything quite like the heated flesh against hers. Bonnie did not even realize that she was clinging to Shego as the pale woman situated herself on top of Bonnie. And then the princess screamed into Shego's mouth as the green-skinned warrior rubbed herself against Bonnie.

"Oh, gods…" Bonnie muttered in a pant as she turned her head, thus breaking the kiss, which Shego did not like much.

The Queen followed Bonnie's mouth and started a new kiss while grinding against the princess. Bonnie's grip on Shego tightened, her nails biting into Shego's shoulder blades like dull knives. As a thin layer of sweat began to build between them, Bonnie started raising her hips to meet Shego's. They were both into it now and they both went before long.

* * *

Bonnie was in her bed and fast asleep, worn out from her time with Shego. The Queen was right next to the younger woman, holding Bonnie around the shoulders as the aqua-eyed female used her for a pillow. Shego did not have any objection to Bonnie being curled up next to her as she was. She enjoyed the feel of the princess' nude form pressed against her own lithe body.

Shego was busying herself with various activities. She listened as servants milled around the other room, cleaning up from when Bonnie and Tara were hanging out. A couple of servants had entered the bedroom with more lanterns since the sun had set sometime ago, but Shego waved them out. They did not need light at the moment.

Other than paying attention to the servants, Shego was playing with the ends of Bonnie's hair, flicking the tips with her fingertips. She caressed Bonnie's bare shoulder or arm every now and then. She leaned over and softly kissed Bonnie every few minutes. She liked the reaction to that last one because Bonnie would always lean into her more, as if seeking more attention, even in her sleep.

With Bonnie resting against her, one thought kept going through Shego's mind. "Mine." She was claiming Bonnie as hers, beyond a good-will hostage, beyond servant, and well beyond entertainment as she used to see the princess as. No, Bonnie was hers in the sense that if anyone even looked at the westerner with interest, Shego was banishing that person without remorse or even a fair hearing. Gods help someone that dared to speak to Bonnie in a more than friendly manner; there might not be enough left of that person to bury.

"My hellcat," Shego said quite contently to the air. She was smiling a bit as she spoke, but she did not know that.

Bonnie seemed to agree by murmuring in her sleep and curling up closer to the warm body that she was resting against, or maybe Shego was looking too deeply into the noise and action. The Queen did turn her attention to her lover as Bonnie made a few more noises and moved some more. It seemed that she was waking up. Shego was sure that she would get a better reception than their first bout together.

Bonnie groaned as she woke up. She was actually still quite tired and her body did feel rather worn out. She was waking up mostly out of hunger. She then noticed that she was being embraced and she remembered Shego. She looked up to see that she was in Shego's arms; Shego had actually stayed with her. For some reason that made her feel all warm on the inside.

"Ready for more?" the emerald-eyed woman inquired playfully with a smile. Maybe she was wishing aloud.

"Oh, don't even joke like that," Bonnie replied with snuggling her head into Shego's shoulder. "I'm not ready for anything except for dinner and a long nap."

"Well, I can make that happened too, but I might make you sing for your supper," the pale woman teased, still smiling.

"Are you always this obnoxious?" Bonnie asked, sounding more joking than serious. She did feel it was a legitimate question, though.

The older royal did not miss a beat. "You tell me, you've seen me almost nonstop this whole month and then some. Am I always this obnoxious?"

"Yes."

Shego smiled, as if she was proud. "Well, there you have it."

"And you're this way on purpose, aren't you?"

"And you're bitchy on purpose, but I don't go holding that against you, huh?" the elder female countered.

Bonnie huffed and quietly withdrew from the verbal battle for the moment. Shego chuckled to her. She loved teasing Bonnie more than she liked teasing Kimmie and that was no small feat. Well, since the little discussion was over, Shego barked for some servants to bring them some food.

"We need to get your energy up," Shego remarked while shifting bit to caress Bonnie's stomach.

"Hey, I'm not your little sex toy," Bonnie huffed, but she did not push away the invading hand. She was fighting off the urge to purr thanks to the scrumptious attention. She could not help wondering why it seemed like every time Shego touched her that it felt like the very definition of paradise.

"Aw, but don't you want to be?" Shego inquired with a pout.

"NO!" Bonnie answered quite seriously and she shot Shego a look that the Queen found quite amusing. It was like the princess was warning Shego not to use her or there would be hell to pay.

"Aw, that's too bad. That's just what I wanted, though," the green-skinned woman joked.

Bonnie looked offended by that and she tried to push away from Shego. The pale monarch was not about to release Bonnie, though. Shego also sucked her teeth while making sure to keep the foreigner right where she was.

"Stop taking everything so damn seriously. I was just kidding," Shego assured her lover, which got Bonnie to stop trying to escape.

"Well, don't kid like that!" Bonnie barked heatedly, glaring at the Queen. How the hell was she supposed to take that anyway? It was her first time being involved with someone as she was with Shego and it did not help matters that she could not figure Shego out.

"All right, all right, all right," Shego promised while rubbing Bonnie's shoulders to help calm her down.

Bonnie relaxed and made herself comfortable against Shego again. She then began thinking, what if Shego was not really joking at first? What if Shego just said it was joke after her indignant reaction? Bonnie did not like the thoughts gathering in her mind and decided that she was going to have to ask some questions of her new lover.

"Have you actually had…sex toys before?" Bonnie asked in a surprisingly shy voice. She was quite new to the realm of sex. She never had a lover at home mostly because her father insisted on all of his daughters to remain chaste as it was a good tool to use in finding well-situated suitors in neighboring kingdoms.

"Well, I've had lovers before, if that's what you mean," Shego easily admitted. Hey, she needed to do something to stay busy in the winter and sometimes Kim and Betty were not always available to get pissy drunk.

"That come and screw you at your beckon call, right?" Bonnie inquired suspiciously. She was not going to be someone like that. She refused to be someone like that. She was not some cheap toy, after all. She was a princess and she took pride in her status.

"Well, yeah," Shego answer. Doy, she was the freaking queen. Everyone did everything that she commanded…well, almost everyone. There was that choice few that were allowed to act up for the most part.

"Well, you can count me out of that," Bonnie declared quite proudly, tilting her chin in the air.

Shego laughed a bit. "We'll see, kitten. Soon, you're going to crave me and beg me to touch you and I won't. And then, I'll summon you to my chambers one night and you'll come running to be with me," she commented quite confidently. She had the nerve to look smug as she said those words.

"Never," Bonnie argued, a determined spark in her eyes.

Shego ran her fingers across Bonnie's arm, leaving a delightful feeling in her wake. "We'll see."

"You're not that great, you know," the tanned female countered.

"Yeah, I am."

Bonnie scoffed, but that did not bother Shego none. Their little talk was interrupted as a meal was brought in for them. More lanterns were also brought into the room as servants set up tables next the bed; the tables had to be stacked one on top of another for them to reach up to the bed. As the room grew brighter with more light, Bonnie moved to see what was being served. She made sure to keep a blanket around her since the servants were around and she was kind of cold.

"I'm so hungry," Bonnie muttered as she started looking over all of the dishes.

"Me too," Shego remarked, eyeing Bonnie.

The princess did not notice what Shego was doing, so she did not get the innuendo. Shego watched the servants rush out of the room when they were done. She guessed that she should have some food since she was a bit hungry too. She moved over to the table that Bonnie was at and noticed a pitcher of wine. She grabbed a cup and poured her own drink like it was nothing. Bonnie noticed that.

"You poured your own wine," Bonnie said as if she was astonished.

"Yeah, it's not that hard," Shego replied casually, not seeing the big deal. She sipped her drink and then fished around for something that she wanted to eat.

"You didn't even think to tell me to do," Bonnie commented as if she was amazed. Well, she guessed that Shego did not even think to tell her to do since it seemed like the idea just hit Shego to have a drink when she got to the table.

"Yeah, believe it or not, before you showed up, I always poured it myself or got Kimmie or Director to do," Shego answered with a shrug. She never had an official cupbearer, which was good considering that person would have been out of a job as soon as the princess showed up. She used to get her sister or Betty to do it for the same reason that she had Bonnie do, just to get on their nerves.

"So…giving me the job was just to torment me?" Bonnie inquired, as if she was actually surprised by that.

"Doy," the Queen answered casually. She rolled her eyes because she would have thought it was obvious why she gave the foreigner that job.

"You're evil," Bonnie said as if she just realized it.

"Doy again," Shego replied.

"Why would you do something like that?"

"I just wanted to see how much you could take. It turned out to be a good decision. It's your fault really. You shouldn't have been acting all feisty when Director brought you in here," Shego stated, another arrogant look gracing her features.

"She shouldn't have chained me up like that!" Bonnie argued, as if that justified her behavior before or made up for anything.

"Ah, she was just trying to be funny. It worked. If I could promote her for that one, I fucking would," Shego remarked with a laugh.

"Barbarian," Bonnie grumbled, puffing out her cheeks in indignation when she was done talking.

The Queen smiled. "I'm a barbarian that can make a bitchy little hellcat scream her name all night long if necessary."

Bonnie balked as the words left Shego's mouth. She could not deny any of that statement, not even the "bitchy" part of it. Damn it, she pretty much just lost another verbal battle! She had about three victories under her belt compared to the countless wins that Shego had.

"Don't worry, you're not the first that falls victim to my many powers," Shego quipped with a chuckle as she ate a dumpling.

Bonnie did not appear amused by that statement. She turned away and found her own food to focus on for a while. Shego sighed; she supposed that was not the best thing to joke about with a new lover, especially one as inexperienced as Bonnie. She decided to just be quiet for a while and let that last line fade away into the darkness. They ate in silence.

When the meal was done, Bonnie was seriously ready to just curl up in bed and sleep through the night. She was surprised that Shego seemed quite ready to stay with her. The Queen was setting herself up against the head of the bed, resting on a few pillows. Bonnie came next to her, but she did not touch Shego.

"You're going to stay here for the night?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"If you'll let me," Shego answered while reaching out and running her knuckles lightly across Bonnie's arm.

"I don't mind," Bonnie answered honestly and she laid down next to the Queen. She then cuddled up into Shego's warm body. Shego felt really good, the younger woman noted.

"You're going to sleep, aren't you?" the raven-haired monarch inquired.

Bonnie yawned and then answered the obvious. "Yes."

"I guess I'll have to suffer then," Shego remarked with a light laugh.

"Shego…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm not going to be your sex toy. If you're going to stay with me, it's got to be just me," Bonnie informed the green-skinned woman.

Shego thought about that. For some reason that she could not figure out, she was fine with those terms. For the moment, she really only wanted Bonnie. As long as she had her little hellcat, she did not need anyone else.

"It'll be you and only you," Shego vowed.

Bonnie smiled and then did something that surprised the Queen. She sat up and placed a soft, sweet kiss to Shego's lips. By the time Shego realized what was going on, Bonnie was already pulling away. Bonnie settled back into Shego and fell into perhaps the most peaceful sleep that she had ever had in her life.

* * *

Next time: disgruntle soldiers bring some political intrigue.


	12. Crossroads

I don't own these characters.

12: Crossroads

Bonnie woke up in the middle of the night. The room was completely dark and silent. It was not an unnerving dark or quiet as it might have been for her in the past. Sometimes, she woke up as she just did and found herself feeling utterly alone, but that was actually something normal and not brought on by the fact that she was in a foreign land. She did not feel that now, but did not know why because her brain was cloudy with sleep. She could not get back to dreamland just yet, though.

She was feeling rather hot and she could not figure out why. It was not a totally uncomfortable heat, but it was still enough to wake her up. She briefly wondered why she was feeling such a way when there was a chill in the air thanks to the season. She then looked over at the person sharing her bed and realized that Shego was giving off a lot of body heat. She had to peel back a layer of covers that was on her to make sure that she was comfortable while remaining pressed against the Queen.

Bonnie was now curious as to why Shego seemed to be quite literally hot. She wondered if Shego really was a demon from the pits of a fiery underworld. She laughed a bit, not really amused, but the thought that came to mind seemed just like her luck to her.

"Of course, the first person to show a real interest in me would be a demon," Bonnie remarked to herself. Just another irony in her life, but she actually did not care if that was the case.

Once she realized that she did not even care that Shego might be a demon, she settled back in to return to sleep. She gave Shego a light kiss on her chin, to which the Queen hardly moved, and then drifted back into oblivion. Shego then chuckled.

"Only a demon can appreciate a hellcat anyway," the pale woman commented to herself.

Bonnie seemed to hear that and actually responded in a mumble, saying something about not being a hellcat. The Queen could not help laughing a bit. She certainly had a feisty little hellcat on her hands, considering the fact that Bonnie was being argumentative even in her sleep. Still, the warrior planned on enjoying every second of their time together.

Shego pulled Bonnie to her a little more and also removed one more layer of covers from the younger woman. She knew that her body heat combined with the covers would only continue to disturb Bonnie's slumber if the princess was underneath enough blankets. Once the cover was away, Shego settled down and went back to sleep with a smile on her face. It seemed that she was quite pleased with the way things were going.

--(New day)

"Why are we here?" Kim inquired, speaking to Shego. She sounded rather fed up, like she wanted to be somewhere else now.

The Queen was sitting on her throne and Kim was leaning up against her. Shego was leaning forward, slumped over a bit. She was resting her chin in her palm and her arm was propped up against her knee; her legs were crossed underneath her. She looked like she was on the brink of falling sleep; her emerald eyes were drooping lower and lower with each passing second.

Kim did not look much better. Her head was thrown back on her big sister's shoulder and her olive eyes were glued to an indistinct space on the jewel-decorated high-ceiling. Her hands were flung back, one of then going through the gap in Shego's legs and pressed against the Queen's knee-pit. Her other hand was behind Shego and hitting against her side. Kim's legs were straight out, but crossed over each other.

Both women were trying their best to avoid doing something silly, like play with the ends of their hair. Shego had already put a little braid in Kim's hair without the younger warrior knowing. Kim was ready to start bouncing in her seat because she wanted to leave already.

They had made plans to go spar, but for some reason that the redhead could not grasp, they were just sitting there. Kim did not know it, but Shego really wanted to just get up and go spar with her little sister more than anything else. It was just so happened that she had something that she needed to take care of before they could go have some fun.

"Work," the green-skinned woman answered, spitting the word out with much disdain.

"Winter work is boring," Kim grumbled with a scowl.

"Yes, it is," Shego agreed with a nod and a frown of her own. Winter could not leave fast enough in her opinion. She was so close to taking the West that she could taste it. Oddly enough, it tasted sweet, or maybe there was just something else that was on her mind.

"Can't Betty do it?" the redhead inquired, close to whining. She hated just sitting around and waiting, which would explain why she was fidgeting in her seat now.

"I wish. I was going to just let you do it, but you showed up early and I was still just sitting here, actually enjoying myself," Shego replied with a bit of a laugh. She had been entertaining herself with some cards; her mother taught her to do fortunes when she was younger through cards and other sorted items. She was not in the habit of believing the cards in regards to herself, but it was something to do.

Kim rolled her eyes, even though she would have handled the work if it was given to her. It was things like that that kept Kim and Betty close to Shego. They would readily take on any of her responsibilities if she told them to. To make matters better, they did great jobs of it; both of them liked to think that they took care of royal matters better than the Queen did. The pale woman would argue that she took care of her business just fine, at least when she actually did it.

Kim sighed, annoyed that they were not doing what they planned on. Shego was tempted to tell her to stop whining before she sent the young woman back to her grandmother, but that could work against her. There was now a chance of Kim wanting to go back to her grandmother, who might offer sparring of her own or even talk of battle strategy when the Western campaign started up again.

"Stop sounding like that," Shego ordered in an irked tone, referring to Kim's sigh. Her frown made itself deeper, embedding itself on her smooth features. She took a moment to use her free hand and plucked her bratty little sister in the arm. The redhead sucked her teeth to the hit and pulled away a bit, but did not return the blow.

"Stop telling me to stop doing stuff," Kim countered in her own upset voice, scowl growing into an angry glare now that her big sister was hitting her too.

"Princess, don't make me kick you off of the throne," the pale monarch commented, staring heatedly at the younger woman out of the corner of her eye. It was not an idle threat. She had done it before in the past.

Kim scoffed, moving her head to the side a bit to emphasize the sound. "How do you know I don't want you to try?" she inquired considering the fact that she had come to the palace to spar with her adopted big sister.

Shego chuckled a bit; Kimmie had her there. She would be starting a fight if she did anything physically violent to the redhead beyond the playful pluck that she had done. Kim had shown up for a fight after all. She would just be giving in to her little sister and she was not ready to do that.

The redhead was about to complain some more; she really wanted something to do that was not boring. Shego was with her on that, but they did not express it because they were interrupted. A trio of men entered the throne room.

Kim threw her hands back when she saw who it was that came in and fell to the pillow, landing behind Shego. They had been waiting for Team Impossible? The redhead wished that she had stayed home. She was pretty sure that she could have talked her grandmother into sparring. She just wanted to stay active for when the campaign started up again.

Shego only glanced back her little sister, wishing that she could react in the same manner. The worst of it was that Shego could not even remember who the guys were like Kim could. She just wanted to get out of the room and go do something fun.

"Quick, what are these clowns' names again?" the Queen asked Kim in a whisper as the trio stood before her. She was totally blanking on who they were, which she was not in favor of when it came to her military. Some guys just did mot leave an impression on her, though.

"Baldy is Dash Demond, brown-haired guy is Crash Crashton, and the redhead guy is Burn Berman. Better known as Team Impossible," Kim answered rapidly and in a slightly hushed voice. She did not really care of the trio heard her telling the Queen their names. Shego actually did not care that she did not know their names, but she had been brought up to show her soldiers respect, knowing they would fight harder for her if they felt respected.

"Right, right, right." Shego nodded to show that she had it. "So, fellas what can I do for you?" the Queen inquired, turning her attention to the team. She did not look anymore interested in what they had to say than she did before they came in.

"We've come to report in from work on the southern frontier," Dash answered, standing at attention with his two partners, who flanked him on both sides. They looked ever like the professionals they were, dressed in the same uniform that Dash designed himself. They wore dark blue short-sleeve shirts, matching straight-legged pants, and black slippers. They had yellow sashes around their waists that held their weapons, which they could wear in the throne room. They wore distinct thick sabers on their belts as opposed to the lighter long swords that most Goh warriors used.

Shego did not look impressed despite their professionalism. The southern frontier was not much of anything in her opinion. Every now and then the tribes on the border of her kingdom liked to act up, but they were more bark than bite. Sometimes, she thought that they just playing around, like they were bored, when they started messing with the towns on the border.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Shego said to signal for Dash to keep going.

As Dash began to speak, Shego tuned him out. Her mind wandered to her hellcat. She was thinking about how not too long ago she had Bonnie in her arms and it felt something close to wonderful. They had not even been doing anything, just lying in Bonnie's bed. Hell, Bonnie had actually still been asleep. She wished that she could have cuddled the smaller woman all day long, but she had work and Bonnie had plans for the day anyway.

The Queen never had such a desire before and she was not sure what about Bonnie brought the feelings on. She did not try to analyze it much since it felt good. Any pleasant experience was worth having in her opinion without letting thinking spoil the moment. After all, if she let thinking get in the way, she would start over-analyzing things, making it out to be like a chess match when it was nothing of the sort. She knew that the matter should not be treated as a chess match either, so she needed to just turn much of her brain off or at least tune it out for now when it came to her hellcat.

Kim was vaguely hearing to the leader of Team Impossible as he prattled on, but she was not too intent on listening to him either. She wanted to go spar already. She was freaking bored out of her freaking mind and he was not helping, which might explain why she stayed lying down behind Shego rather than sitting up through out the whole discussion.

The sisters were sure that Betty had assigned Team Impossible to the southern frontier just to get them out of her hair. It was not that they were incapable soldiers or anything but they were just annoying. They seemed to think that they were the gods' greatest gift to the Empire and the ladies begged to differ on that.

When Dash stopped talking, Shego had not even realized it. Kim had to nudge her, which caused the Queen to grunt. Shego turned around to glare at the redhead, who nodded toward the trio before them. Shego realized that the noise had stopped, so she turned her attention back to them.

"Yeah…good job," Shego said without much conviction in her tone. She was not even sure if that was what she should be telling them.

"That's it?" Dash inquired while his cohorts scowled at the wishy-washy answer. Their stances tensed a bit, which did not go unnoticed. The sisters knew that the fellows were getting upset, but they could care less.

"Yeah. Why, what else do you want, a biscuit?" the pale woman inquired with an attitude. Her eyes narrowed while she cocked an eyebrow in the air, daring them to say something else to her.

Kim chuckled a bit, which the trio locked in on. They frowned in her direction because of the sound, but Kim did not notice. Even if she did notice, she might have continued to laugh. Her manners might have gotten the better of her to stop laughing, but she was not scared of them or their frowns.

"You guys can go," Shego said, shooing the team away with small flick of her hand, as if they were dogs.

She was upset that she had even wasted her time listening to them. Okay, wasted her time waiting for them since she had not listened to them in the slightest. She had not known that they were going to come in and yak about the southern frontier though. The men stood there, as if they were locked in place because of their disbelief.

All three members of Team Impossible could not believe that they were being brushed off so easily. Their jaws looked like they were ready to hit the floor. Crash had the nerve to make a fist for a second, but wisely relaxed his hand before he did anything stupid. The Queen and Kim noticed his actions, but dismissed it since he did the smart thing.

Shego stood up to leave before Team Impossible could go into any other pointless victories, as she saw anything that happened in the southern frontier. She walked off with Kim trailing behind her. The trio stood in the throne room, shocked that they had been blown off in such a way, even though it was not the first time that had happened.

"Bitch," Crash muttered with a tight expression on his pointed features. He made another fist, wishing that he could just go at the Queen with all of his pinned up fury.

"Quiet," Dash ordered, cutting his eyes at his brunette subordinate. Considering the fact that there were servants all around, there was no telling if one of them might go back and tell the Queen what Crash had called her. He doubted that Shego would take the insult as a joke or laugh it off, even though she was known to do that with certain people.

The trio rapidly exited the throne room. They decided to go down into the natural baths and make use of some of the privileges that came with being top soldiers in the army. They first made sure that they were alone in the bathing room that they had chosen. It was well known that there were spies around the palace, mostly at Betty's command to make sure that nothing happened to the Queen and to catch any plots that might be hatched. Also, servants wandered around without aims when they did not have any work to do. Once they were sure that they were by themselves, they turned their attention to the water. They relaxed in the hot mineral water, but that did not ease away the rage and venom that was wrapping around their insides.

"The bitch doesn't even know our names," Crash complained while making a fist and punching the palm of his opposite hand. He gnashed his teeth together as his mouth turned down into a deep scowl.

"She never acknowledges our great deeds," Burn added in with a huff, his throat tightening for a moment because of the action. He was sporting his own frown and thinking his own wises of punishing the Queen for the way that she disrespected them.

"There's only so much abuse a man and a natural Goh warrior can take," Crash continued, scowling so deeply that it was a surprise his mouth did not fall off of his face.

"Yeah, she surrounds herself with these conquered worms and all-around savages while overlooking our efforts. She wouldn't rule half the territory that she has if it wasn't for us!" Burn declared scornfully. He hit the surface of the water with his palm; if only the water was her face, he thought heatedly.

"Yeah, so the least you think she could do was learn our damn names!" Crash concurred, hitting the water too since it seemed like a good idea.

"I bet if we have a pair of tits, she'd bother to learn them," the redhead stated, leaning forward a bit to stress his point and anger.

"We don't have to take this shit! ...Right, boss?" Crash said to their leader in a curious tone since the bald man was surprisingly quiet.

"We don't. I'm sick of this shit myself," Dash admitted with a frown of his own. His eyes were focused on nothing in particular, but gleamed with a burning wrath underneath his calm demeanor. He did look determined about something and sounded quite serious.

"Seriously! I mean, no matter what we do, she just waves us off like it's nothing!" Burn griped.

"Gentlemen, I propose we take a stand," Dash commented, which earned him some puzzled looks from his two cohorts.

"A stand?" the two confused men echoed in very perplexed tones.

"I have a plan, but for it to work, we really need to get our hands dirty. This could get heavy," Dash informed his crew as he looked up at them. He wanted them to see that he meant business from the hard look on his bearded features.

"If we get to teach this bitch a lesson, I'll be all for it," Crash insisted, holding up a fist to show that he was all for whatever the leader had planned. His frown transformed into a menacing smirk at the thought of getting to take Shego down a peg or two.

"Oh, it'll be more than that. But, for it to work, we might need someone close the Queen, but doesn't like her very much," Dash informed them. "I just need to know if you're in."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Burn inquired, just to be sure. His expression seemed to show some worry over what he thought the boss was suggesting. After all, that was something truly serious, life-on-line, have-to-pull-it-off serious.

"That when it's all said and done we won't have to worry about that fucking bitch not knowing our names? Yes," the bald man answered with a sinister smile of his own.

Crash and Burn thought of what their leader was implying. It was a risky venture, but the bitch desired it, they believed. She never gave them their due credit after all, especially not the way that she gave it to conquered people. In their opinions, they were just as capable as Kim and Betty, yet they were never shown the same respect or granted the same privileges as those two. They had taken all that they could stand and now they could not stand anymore.

* * *

Kim ducked as Shego came in for a claw move and she tried to take the Queen's legs out from underneath her with a sweep kick. Shego moved out of the way just in time and tried to come in with kick of her own. Kim jumped back and was able to settle into her defensive stance as Shego came at her.

"Hey," Kim said suddenly while blocking several palm strikes.

"Yeah, what?" Shego inquired with a grunt as she hit up against Kim's forearm.

"Where's Bonnie? I haven't seen her since I got here," the redhead commented as she tried to counter, but ended up opening herself up to get a cut across her shoulder thanks to Shego's talons. Pieces of her black shirt drifted to the sand-covered floor.

"She's hanging out with Tara," Shego answered while leaping back to avoid a severe kick; it would seem that Kim did not like the fact that she had been scratched.

"Tara?" Kim echoed incredulously and then she grunted as her foot collided with Shego's elbow.

"Yeah," Shego answered as she tried to grab a hold of Kim's leg, but her action was a millisecond too slow.

"Great, now she's stealing my friends." Kim took advantage of the Queen's moment of sluggishness and slammed her foot right into Shego's shoulder.

Shego hissed as the blow landed and jumped back to gain some ground. "Oh, is my little princess jealous?" A playful smirk danced across her face.

"Of that whiny pain-in-the-butt? Hell no!" Kim ran at Shego, looking rather determined and throwing a combination of punches that the older woman dodged.

"Doesn't seem that way," the pale woman teased.

Kim only scoffed and continued throwing lightning fast punches, all of which her adopted big sister was able to dodge. She leaped into a spinning kick to change her attack, hoping to surprise Shego with a head shot. Shego quickly put her arm up to block the kick and force Kim's leg away from her. As she pushed Kim's leg away, she tried to come in with a claw move, which Kim ducked.

"So, you lengthened her leash or something?" Kim asked, referring to Bonnie. She was teasing back, but her voice was not able to show that thanks to their activity.

"I changed her position," Shego remarked with an openly lecherous smirk on her face as she brought her palm down on her adopted sister.

Kim chuckled a bit while just avoiding having her skull smashed in. Suddenly, her face changed. Her eyebrows and mouth scrunched up, showing that she was confused. "I thought she wasn't into couples or relationships and stuff."

"I changed her mind on that," Shego replied without bothering to correct her little sister.

It was not that Bonnie was not into couples or relationships or anything like that, but that she was not comfortable with the idea of two women being together. Kim was pretty used to how things were in the Goh Empire, so anytime two serious lovers were together, she just looked at them as a couple. She did not differentiate between sexes, so when she saw Bonnie having problem with Betty and Vivian and their public displays, she took it as Bonnie simply having trouble with couples and romance.

"I think you're making a mistake," Kim said as she launched herself at Shego with another flurry of punches.

"Since when do I listen to you when we're in the palace?' Shego replied with another playful smile as she dipped and dodged the strikes. Of course, out on the battlefield, she trusted Kim's opinion almost more than her own depending on the situation.

"You should!" Kim grunted as her knuckles smashed against the wall that she had followed Shego to. The Queen had ducked out of the way just in time to avoid having her face impacted with Kim's small fist.

"Why? You obviously make lousy judgments," Shego teased as she took Kim's legs out from underneath her.

Kim growled as she spun into a kick move while she was on the floor. Her foot grazed Shego's chin as she lashed out. The older warrior fell back as Kim stood up. The redhead did not let her adopted big sister regain her balance and floored Shego with a kick to the chest.

"I think your judgments aren't any better," Kim countered smugly.

Shego laughed a bit, but leaped back up to go at the redhead. They continued to go back and forth with each other, verbally and physically. They were having a good time.

* * *

Dash wasted no time in doing one of the things that he did best, gathering information. He was not going to waste any time in putting his plan into action, so he was attempting to find out everything that he could about the Queen since she came back from the Western campaign. He wanted to know her habits, which were quite difficult to pin down.

Shego never really had a routine. Dash did not know if that was by design or just because the green-skinned woman was fickle by nature. He did try to find out how she spent her days, though. He was not surprised to find out that Shego spent many of her nights drinking with Kim and Betty. That was their usual winter activity when they did not have anything better to do, but other than that, he did not really gather much on a routine.

Shego also sometimes played games with Kim or Betty, which were also normal winter activities for them. They played chess mostly, but every now and then Shego and Betty played dice. That was not much to go on since they could start that almost anywhere in the palace, which was about the size of a small city if all of the levels were counted.

He would rather not make a move with Kim and Betty being around. Now, it was not that he was afraid of those two, or so he would state out loud. After all, why should he be scared of two women? Aside for the fact that they were two crazy, fierce warriors who had done some things that would probably give lesser souls nightmares for the rest of their lives, which probably would not last long anyway. Some of the things that they did would more than likely drive weaker warriors to commit suicide to escape the thoughts.

Still, despite the fact that he was not scared of them, he would rather not do something with them around. It was enough in his opinion that he was making plans against perhaps the most powerful woman in the world, but to do it around two perhaps equally capable women was just not a start move in his opinion. He was not an idiot, even if he was planning something that most people would think was insane.

He did find out something that was a bit intriguing while searching for information. He found out that the Queen had a new servant, a barbarian princess who was working as her cupbearer. The more he learned about the princess, the more he felt like she would be useful. He was told that the princess was resentful to the Queen's treatment of her and seemed to want nothing more than to get out of the palace, probably to go back home. It sounded like very promising information, even to make him smile while he told his teammates.

"You want to try to bring this barbarian girl into something this delicate?" Crash asked the trio's leader as they hooked up. He had a skeptical look on his face and a questioning eyebrow in the air; he was questioning the boss' sanity it seemed. The team met in one of the palace's garden. It was out of the way of most busy parts of the palace and they were sure that no one was around.

"It's quite simple since she can get close to the Queen and do this very discreetly. Besides, she doesn't have any ties to this country like someone else might. She's everything to gain in this like us and probably wouldn't think twice of it. We make her a few promises about going home and I'll bet that she falls right for this," Dash declared confidently. From what he heard about the princess, he was surprised that she had not tried something like he had planned already. But then again, she was new to the Empire, so she probably was overwhelmed by things and could not think of something that he viewed as brilliant.

"How do we get her to go along with us? We can't just walk up to her and say 'hey, you don't know us, but we've got this great idea that you'd probably like to get in on.' She wouldn't believe us," Burn argued, throwing his hands slightly out to the side.

Crash sucked his teeth. "Who wants to work with a damned barbarian anyway? She probably doesn't even speak our language. I beat she's got rotten teeth and smells like a yak," he remarked.

Burn laughed. "Probably."

"You two, cut it out. This could be the break we need. We could use this girl to get rid of that bitch. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all," Dash pointed out.

"Yeah, that saying works, unless the enemy is too stupid to realize it and I'm sure a little barbarian princess isn't smart enough to realize it," Crash argued with a tense face while making a lateral cutting motion with his hand to just drive home his point.

"That's where you come in, my friend," Dash commented while throwing his arm around the brunette male.

Crash did not like the motion or the words because it seemed like he was going to have to take one for the team. More often than not, he did not mind doing something to help out the team. His tasks involved things that he liked most of the time, but he had a feeling that right now was not going to be one of those times.

"You charm her into going along with us," Dash told his cohort with a confident look on his face.

"Charm her?" Crash sighed as if he was exhausted just thinking about it. It was not like it was the first time that he had been given such an assignment. "Do you know what she looks like?" he inquired with a vexed expression. The last thing that he wanted to do was have to seduce an ugly barbarian woman.

"I actually haven't seen her yet. I was trying to find her, but you know how servants are around this place," the bald man replied, shaking his head a bit.

"That'll change when we're in charge, huh?" Burn commented with a confident smile on his face.

"Yeah, we'll run a proper palace and army," Dash stated as if that was a fact already.

"Yeah," his cohorts concurred while making fists, assured that they would get everything that they wanted and believed that they deserved.

"So, first we need you to charm the cupbearer," Dash reminded Crash while slapping the brunette male in the chest. It was actually a rather hard blow, but they were used to such roughhousing.

Crash sighed. "Fine, point me in the direction of the little barbarian," he conceded, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

* * *

Bonnie entered the palace alone. Tara had been called home by her father, which was why she was no longer with Bonnie. They had had a good time seeing a show and doing some shopping. She had shamelessly dropped the Queen's name and was backed up by Tara, so there were going to be some things delivered to the palace in the next few days that might make Shego hit the ceiling. The thought, along with the pleasant day, had Bonnie smiling.

The market place had been full of things that Bonnie had never seen before. She supposed that not being a part of the Goh Empire and not trading with allies of the Empire cost the Middleton city-state as far as foreign bobbles went. Maybe, come spring, instead of going to war, her father and Shego might be able to come to some treaty agreement where Middleton and the Goh Empire could become trading partners at least, she thought. It would make for some brilliant shopping when she got back home.

Bonnie's thoughts were thrown off as she noticed someone at the end of the rather empty corridor. She did not think too much of it since there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of people wandering through the palace for some reason or another at any given time. Little did she know was that he was wandering the palace looking just for her; he had been pointed to that corridor since she had to use it to get to her apartments when he asked about the barbarian girl.

Crash was surprised to see that Bonnie was rather attractive. He had expected some hideous creature for some reason, but Bonnie was the exact opposite. He was actually now pleased with the assignment that had been given to him. Bonnie would not have paid him any mind if he had not spoken to her as she was walking by.

"Hey, there, never seen you around here before," Crash commented in a smooth voice with an almost sickeningly charming smile.

"That makes two of us," Bonnie replied in a guarded tone. She was not used to strangers speaking to her while she was on her own.

"You must be new. I like to think I'd notice a beautiful creature such as yourself walking about," he said, still smiling like he was some kind of god.

Bonnie looked confused by the line, although she did blush slightly. It was not the first time that a guy had hit on her, but it was the first time that it seemed sincere. Usually, guys knew that she was a princess or something when they were trying to gain her attention.

"I hope you let me get to know you better," Crash said while running his fingers through his hair, just to call attention to one of his more handsome features.

"We'll see about that," she replied coyly with a smile of her own.

"How about we start now?" Crash suggested, still smiling.

Bonnie laughed a bit, but she took him up on his offer. It was not like she had anything better to do, especially since Shego did not know that she was back. So, she found herself going back outside with Crash. They struck some conversation as they walked around.

"So, what do you do in the palace?" Crash inquired, continuing to speak smoothly and sounding genuine. "If you don't mind my asking anyway."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, even though she was not sure how to answer that question. What did she do in the palace? She was a cupbearer until a few days ago. Now, she did not know if she was still that, considering the fact that Shego now poured her own wine or water or whatever drank when she was around now. Was she just Shego's lover? She was not sure.

"What do you do?" Bonnie countered to stop thinking about her undefined job-status.

"I'm a soldier. Ranked pretty high up at that," Crash boasted while motioning to himself with his hand.

Bonnie nodded, almost as if she was impressed. "So, you were probably there when the army crossed in the West, huh?" she asked curiously. She cut him a bit of a glare, but it lasted for less than a second.

"Um…" Crash looked away. The Western campaign was the pride and joy of the army and everyone wanted to be involved in that. Instead, he and his friends had been sent on that joke of an assignment to the south and the Queen had not even bothered to give them some respect on that issue.

"I bet you're looking forward to when the spring comes," Bonnie continued on. She knew that the West was on the mind of every Goh citizen in Shego's province, even though it was not too openly discussed. Still, the bits that she heard here and there let her know that the conquest of the West that everyone seemed to be looking forward to.

Crash was going to say something, but then he remembered that Bonnie was a barbarian from the West. He changed up when that thought hit him. "I'd actually like it if we'd stopped all of this movement to the West," he said.

"Really?" she asked in shock. That was the last answer she expected to hear. She was instantly intrigued since it was nice to hear that someone was not looking forward to wasting her homeland and doing whatever the barbarians did with conquered cities. She stepped a bit closer to him, as if she did not want to miss as he elaborated on his response.

"Yes, I think we're worrying too much about this expansion to the West when we really need to focus on what's going on around here. A lot of people feel that way, but the Queen doesn't listen," Crash lied, continuing to talk in a smooth manner.

Bonnie nodded. Since there had not been much talk of war while she was there, she supposed that there might be some stock in his words. Maybe the people were not so into devouring the West, even though she knew that Shego still had plans to march that way come springtime. From what she could tell, the people did not talk about war much; well, not as much as she expected them to. Maybe it was all on Shego's shoulders and maybe just the Queen wanted to eat her town and every other one waiting in the West.

It just did not seem like Shego would do something totally against the will of her people because she did seem to take pride in her job, even though she put things off on Betty whenever possible. When she did do her job though, she went at it with vigor and determination. But then again, Shego also had a self-indulgent and selfish side to her, so the campaign could possibly just be her whim.

"If I could stop the march West, I would," Crash commented, making it seem as if he was sorrowful and hurt over the fact that he could not do anything. He had the nerve to look like he was on the brink of tears.

"Really?" Bonnie inquired, seeming quite interested, even though that was the only word she uttered the past couple of sentences.

"Yeah, I mean, I'd do that right now if I could. If only the Queen would listen to me," Crash answered, keeping up the pained tone and pitiful look.

"Well, I'm sure you could talk to her," the tanned female commented, trying to defend Shego a little bit it seemed.

"I've tried a few times. She doesn't listen."

"Yeah, she doesn't seem like the type that would listen to an idea once she's got her mind set on something," Bonnie said knowingly, nodding a little as she spoke.

Crash saw her words as an opening; it did not sound like she thought highly of the Queen to him. He swung the conversation to talking about the Queen and they both pretty much badmouthed Shego for the rest of the day. Bonnie did not even realize what she was doing, but she sort of got drawn into it because she did have a lot of pet peeves about the Queen.

"You don't sound too fond of the Queen," Crash noted after a while of wandering and Queen-bashing. He thought that was a great thing because then she would definitely be open to the plan. After all, she did not have any ties to the Queen and if anything, Shego was just holding the little princess back, he guessed.

"Well, I wouldn't say fond…" Bonnie muttered while looking away. It was about now that she realized how badly she had been talking about Shego. It was a bad habit, she supposed. She was surprised that she felt a terrible sting of guilt in her chest over her words, but she tried to push that emotion down. She doubted that she had ever felt bad for talking about someone, especially when she believed that she was telling the truth. Things were different with talking about the Queen, though.

"I bet you want to go home too," Crash said.

"Um…" Bonnie looked away. She had not thought about it much lately. She should want to go home, right? She should want to go back to her normal life, right? She dared not answer those questions.

"I think I know a way to help us both out," Crash informed her. That got her attention and she turned her turquoise eyes to him.

"Really? What?" Bonnie asked curiously. She had to fight to maintain an interested expression as he informed her what he proposed to be done. He wanted her to poison Shego. In exchange, he promised that she would be allowed to go home and that the whole West would be spared an invasion, including Middleton. She could be a hero, not to mention she would be able to go home. It sounded too good to be true, yet she did not decline.

"Just remember, this is a secret," Crash reminded her. Bonnie nodded; of course it was a secret. Did he think that she was so dumb that she would dare tell anyone what he suggested be done?

* * *

Next time: does Bonnie go along with this plot? If so, what's to become of Shego?


	13. Clear as day

I don't own these characters.

13: Clear as day

Bonnie crawled into bed and settled into her pillow. She sighed a bit as she attempted to make herself comfortable in the fluffy mattress. She started thinking about what happened earlier when that Crash fellow was talking to her. It was slightly tempting in the way that it would get her home sooner and it would save her city-state from being pillaged, or worse. There was really no downside for her in his plan. But, could she actually go through with poisoning Shego? She did not have time to ponder that issue.

"Hello, hellcat," Shego purred as she entered the bedroom. It did not show in her demeanor, but she had been eagerly awaiting bedtime all day. It took a lot of self-control on her part not to run through the halls to Bonnie's apartments.

Speak of the devil, Bonnie thought. "What do you think you're doing?" the princess demanded to know, sounding quite sour with the fact that the Queen was in her bed chambers.

"I think you know why," the pale woman replied. The smirk that she was wearing could be heard in her voice more than seen on her face since Bonnie had her lanterns put out before she got in the bed.

"I thought I told you I wasn't going to be your sex toy," Bonnie huffed as she felt the pressure at the foot of the bed, which let her know that Shego was climbing onto the mattress. She wished that her eyes would adjust to the dark, even though some part of her thought it was exciting to not be able to see the green-skinned warrior, but rather hear and feel her presence.

"Yeah, I got that message," Shego replied, still smirking up a storm while working her way up the bed on all floors. She was certain that it would be much sexier if Bonnie could actually see her. If she had any patience, she would have waited for the princess' eyes to adjust to the dark before she came in, but she had not seen Bonnie all day. She found that it irked her to not have Bonnie around and she wanted to ease that feeling away right now.

The Queen was not sure about the new affliction/craving that she had with the princess. It seemed like something had changed around her since Bonnie showed up, but she was trying her best not to think about it. It was not like her life was dreary and tiresome before Bonnie's arrival. Nor had her life lacked sexual partners, but she had been looking to get back to Bonnie like nothing else in the world mattered. She was on the brink of refusing to think about such emotions as it would seem as if she had lost control of herself, which was unacceptable for her. Still, no matter how much she would like to deny it, she had a certain little foreign princess stuck to the forefront of her brain at all times now.

Even when she had been fighting with Kim, part of her brain was just demanding that she abandon the task and go find Bonnie. Now, in her opinion, that was not normal. When she was with Kim and they were sparring, she was supposed to be quite happy with that, not thinking about something or someone else. It was insane, but she was not thinking that right now.

"Then what're you doing?" Bonnie demanded to know as Shego settled over her. The younger woman was scowling and they were close enough for it to be easily seen. The Queen did not pay the expression any mind, though.

"I've got this craving for sweet things and I can't think of anything sweeter than you," the pale woman remarked, smiling like a plotting imp.

Bonnie was set to protest, not in the mood for Shego at the moment, but the Queen cut off any words with a deep kiss. The embrace was fiery and delightfully delicious. Bonnie wasted no time in returning the kiss while her body almost immediately desired nothing more than to melt into Shego's hot form.

By the time Shego pulled away for air, Bonnie was breathless and completely lost on why she was going to object to such action in the first place. Shego continued on, starting a brand new and equally blazing kiss. Bonnie was not able to recall why she had not wanted Shego around in the first place by the time the second kiss began and things did not get any better when the Queen started caressing her form with those knowledgeable, wanting hands. All the princess could do was concentrate on how good the pale woman was making her feel now.

Bonnie moaned softly as the rubbing got deeper and one hand began kneading her breast. Shego could practically taste the sound as it traveled from Bonnie into her mouth; it tasted fantastic. She moved to get the princess to moan again and easily got the desired results.

Bonnie could hardly think at all thanks to Shego. All she could do was experience. She felt like there was a fire building in her stomach, burning down to her toes and up to the top of her head. Only Shego could put out that blaze. But, she also felt something deeper than the raw passion between them.

The tanned female was not too sure what her other feelings were and she would rather not be bothered with them now. She did not have the attention to focus on them and she did not want to use her brain now. She just thought about the wonderful inferno spreading through out her body, begging for more of Shego's talented, almost caring touch.

* * *

Bonnie felt like she was boneless and was trying to catch her breath. She was exhausted, but in a good way, which might explain the small smile on her face. There was something beyond the wonderful, physical exhaustion, though. There was something that she could not exactly put her finger on, but it made her feel all light on the inside. She smiled, her gaze cast downward so that the cause of her emotions could not see.

"Hey, why don't you let me see that pretty smile?" Shego proposed while putting her hand on Bonnie's cheek to make her look up.

Bonnie tried to wipe the smile off of her face, especially since she was starting to remember that she had been upset with Shego for some reason; the particular reason was not coming back to her so quickly right now. The smile was not going anywhere and the princess wondered why that was. She had been so vexed with Shego not too long ago, so why could she not stop smiling? And then she figured out why; it was because she liked Shego.

She actually liked Shego and she was able to admit that to herself with some ease now. She liked how Shego made her feel, both physically and emotionally. Sure, the Queen joked around with her or did some mean things to her, but Shego did not really treat her like a lesser or lower person. She was comfortable with the Queen and enjoyed being around her, which explained why that smile was just stuck in place.

"Don't look," Bonnie pretended to huff, sounding more girly than she meant to. She tried to turn away so that Shego could no longer see, but the older woman was not having that.

"Nope, let me see that thing," Shego playfully ordered while grabbing Bonnie and pulling the smaller woman to her. She forced Bonnie to rest on top of her, giving her the perfect view of Bonnie's face.

"No, don't look," Bonnie repeated and she put her head down.

Shego chuckled rather lightly. She rubbed the small of Bonnie's back with one hand while the other picked Bonnie's head up. She then planted a soft kiss to the tanned woman's lips, causing the now familiar warm sensation to spread through Bonnie. Hearts started to race, even though they both would appreciate a rest. Shego took in her body's request and figured if her energy resources were running low, then Bonnie had to be empty by now. They probably would not be doing much for the night, she thought, which caused her to pout internally.

"Shego…" Bonnie said in a low voice when the green-skinned woman pulled away.

"Hmm?" the Queen answered while making herself busy with caressing Bonnie's bare torso with both hands down. Her touches were almost lazy in nature now, but still quite affectionate.

"Are you really going to let me go if my father gives you the gold you want?" the tanned female inquired.

Shego was silent for a moment and her eyebrows went up in curiosity. The question seemed rather random to her and she would rather not hear about the person's father while she was in bed with the person. She guessed that she would have to forgive Bonnie for that one, chalking it up to the princess not knowing any better.

"That's the deal," the pale woman answered while trying to focus back on the wonderfully soft skin under her fingertips and palms.

"And you won't sack the city?" the younger woman asked.

"That was also the deal," Shego replied.

Bonnie nodded. "Um…Shego?" she said again while trying to ignore the tingly feeling racing through her body as Shego's fingers danced across her flesh.

"Hmm?"

Bonnie then sort of blurted out her next question because that she knew that was the only way for her to ask it. "Do you like me?"

Shego was taken back by that question. She could not help wandering if it was "weird question" night or if Bonnie's mind had decided to just give up for the night after couple of hours of coupling. Maybe the younger woman was just saying any ridiculous question that came to mind, the Queen considered.

"Ah, you're all right," Shego said in a rather wishy-washy tone, looking off to the side as she spoke. If her hands were not so happily occupied, she probably would have thrown in a meaningless hand gesture just to take away more from the already flimsy response.

"Am I just a toy to you?" Bonnie inquired, pressing the issue. She sat up to look in the pale woman's emerald eyes, trying to see the answers to her question and the many questions swirling inside of her. She stared at arguably the most powerful woman on the planet with hard aqua eyes. Shego looked away.

"Didn't we already go through this?" the green-skinned woman countered. She really did not want to have a sentimental conversation and she would have thought that Bonnie was of like mind with that considering the way that Bonnie acted, all tough and everything.

"And you agreed, but you never said anything. Why are you even here? I'm sure there are a dozen of girls you could get in bed. Why me? Is it because I'm some exotic foreigner? Or because you think I'm easy?" Bonnie demanded to know, frowning as she spoke in a strong, forceful voice.

Shego sighed; it seemed that she was going to have to go through an irksome conversation. She shifted a bit in her space, adjusting the younger woman in her arms while doing so. She sat up, making sure to hold Bonnie next to her. She did look away again as she started speaking, her emerald eyes focusing on a black space on the high ceiling.

"If you really must know, I'm here because I like your damn attitude. From the moment you showed up, you were all hot-tempered and tough. You don't shake in the presence of danger. If you didn't notice from my sister and my friends, I like people like that. You fit right in and I think you're a hot little hellcat too. A fire demon such as myself can only like a hot little hellcat," Shego commented, speaking in a low tone because she was a bit embarrassed to say such things.

Bonnie was surprised by those words. She actually had not expected Shego to say that she liked her attitude. She was so certain that she was just some toy to Shego, some exotic plaything, and she thought that Shego would have no problem with saying that. After all, the Queen said other hurtful things to her without a second thought it seemed.

"You like my attitude?" Bonnie inquired in shock. Her eyes wide, her eyebrows curled up, and her head cocked itself to the side slightly without her brain sending messages for it to do so.

"Among other things," Shego replied with a shrug on that one. "Do we really have to talk about this junk?" Her eyes remained on the ceiling.

"It's not junk," the princess argued with a huff.

"Fine, fine, fine," Shego sighed. She supposed that talking came with getting a lover that was confused with most things that were going on. "Look, I like you, happy now?" the Queen inquired with a huff of her own. It just was not as angry as the noise that escaped Bonnie.

Bonnie did not even have to think about that one. Yes, she was happy to know that Shego liked her. It was nice to be like someone and to be liked by them in return, she realized. She was not sure that such a thing had ever happened to her.

With that thought in mind, Bonnie thought back to the proposal made to her by Crash. Could she really do that to someone that she liked? Well, it should not matter, she mentally argued. She might like Shego, but she was probably nothing more than a toy to the Queen. Well, Shego said it was nothing like that, that she liked Bonnie. That should be enough, she thought. But, then again, a cruel part of her brain suggested that Shego could be lying to her, just looking to get her to share her bed again. She should just take Crash up on his offer, so she could go home a hero and not have to worry about the Goh Empire ever again, part of her mind argued.

The princess gulped as her throat felt tight. She was hoping that would help, but her throat just closed up more. She was also starting to feel a little short of breath. She tried to calm down by taking some deep breaths, but it was not helping.

"You okay, hellcat?" Shego inquired as she felt Bonnie's breathing change since the princess was pressed against her.

Bonnie could not even answer. She nodded, hoping that Shego could tell what she was doing. The Queen was aware of Bonnie's actions, but also knew that the confirmation was a lie. She started caressing Bonnie's side and got the affect that she wanted. Bonnie began calming down.

"How can she have this affect on me?" the younger woman wondered, sounding puzzled even in her own mind.

The princess was starting to feel something that she had never felt before. It was like she was completely safe and secure in Shego's arms. It was like the Queen would actually protect her and take care of her if she let Shego. She did not know why that was, but she was thankful for the feeling, especially since it helped ease her breathing.

"Shego?" Bonnie said in a quiet, almost nervous tone.

"Yes?" the pale woman answered, having a feeling that the conversation was about to change from the sound of Bonnie's voice.

"Um…I have something I really need to tell you."

"So, tell me already. Heaven knows I came here to talk and not for deep, sweaty, hot—" Shego would have gone on, but Bonnie cut in.

"I thought you said I wasn't your toy!" the aqua-eyed young woman huffed while sitting up to look Shego in the face.

"It's a joke! Geez, I'm going to get you a sense of humor if it's the last thing I do."

"Well, I'm trying to be serious here, so stop joking."

"Fine, what are you trying to be serious about?" Shego inquired while rolling her eyes.

"Well, I was going to tell you how some guy named Crash approached me today with a plot to assassinate you, but now I don't think I'm going to," Bonnie commented while turning her head up in defiance.

"Assassinate me?" Shego echoed in an odd voice. She sounded interested, but also pleased with the idea. "Oh, please, do go on, kitten," she requested with a purr as she pulled Bonnie closer to her. It would seem that the winter was not going to be as boring as she first assumed.

--(New day)

Bonnie looked around as she made her way to a garden meeting place. She was trying to look normal, but she was walking faster than usual and looking around a lot more often than necessary. She got to meeting place, which was covered in lush bushes due to round-the-clock care to keep them alive in the cold weather, and saw that no one was there. She glanced around several times, scanning the area.

"Don't tell me I'm going through all of this and he chickened out," Bonnie muttered to herself while folding her arms across her chest in a huff. She frowned while leaning back ever-so slightly to make her stance even more frustrated.

"I didn't think you'd show," Crash commented from behind Bonnie, causing the foreigner to practically jump out of her skin.

Bonnie was not used to people sneaking up on her and she very much did not like it. She turned around to glare at Crash with all of the hatred that her heart could muster while her heart also tried to return to beating normally. He was taken back by the look of sheer loathing and he grimaced a bit before his mind reminded him that he was standing before a petite woman that he could break in half with his bare hands if the urge overcame him. He straightened up while she got herself together. They then faced each other like there was ice water running through their veins.

Crash searched the area while making sure to keep an eye on Bonnie too. He just wanted to make sure the coast was clear and he also did not trust Bonnie too much. After all, she was just another foreigner that managed to somehow get close to the Queen. At least she could be used to their advantage, he thought.

"What are you, just going to stand there?" Bonnie inquired, showing some genuine annoyance with the brunette male because he was not saying anything.

"I'm just making sure you weren't followed," he told her with a bit of an attitude himself. He was also trying to make sure no intelligence officers were around. With the way Betty had spies all over the place, a person could never be too careful.

"I wasn't," she insisted with a hiss.

"So, you in?" Crash asked the young woman, trying to sound friendly as he spoke now. After all, they needed her since she was the one that was close to the Queen; too bad they did not know how close.

"Tell me what you want me to do," Bonnie replied.

"I'll be in contact with you later. I just need to know if you're in or not," Crash informed her curtly.

Bonnie huffed in annoyance. She was not in the mood to play games. "I'm in. Is that it?" she inquired with her usual attitude.

"I'll see you in three days at this same spot and at this same time," Crash answered offhandedly and averted his gaze.

Bonnie sucked her teeth. "Whatever."

Crash made a speedy exit; it was almost like he vanished. Bonnie sighed, but she did not think too much of it. She decided to go about her day as usual, meeting up with Tara. They figured that they would do some more shopping, especially since Shego had not hit the ceiling when Bonnie's first spree items had been delivered. She was starting to consider that maybe Shego was letting her get away with murder, but she did not really care. She was surprisingly enough having a good time.

* * *

Crash met up with his teammates at Dash's lavish villa. They were in a small, private room, sitting around to further discuss their plan. They were certain that his house was secure, so it was safe to speak openly.

"Is the girl in?" Dash inquired as soon as Crash walked into the room. He was lounging on a pillow with a tray of food within arm's reach.

"She said she's in," the brunette answered while flopping down onto a pillow-seat. He grabbed a snack from a nearby table.

"So, what do we do now?" Burn asked curiously. He was sitting down just like his teammates and there was food close to him also. He was currently enjoying a cup wine.

"We need to get the potion to the girl then. Crash, are you going to handle that or should I go out and visit an apothecary?" Dash proposed. He thought that it was best to involve as few people as possible, which was why he was asking so much of Crash.

Crash thought about it for a moment. He was a trained doctor, but he did not know much about what type of poisons should be mixed in wine that would be able to go undetected. They would also need something fast acting, so that the Queen did not get a chance to figure out what was happening. He was sure that he would be able to handle it, but just to be sure, he decided that it would be better for them to get some professional help.

"You know someone that could do that?" Crash inquired curiously. He would not put it passed the boss to know someone for everything, but it did seem a bit risky to him.

"Actually, Burn knows someone trustworthy that'll hook us up," Dash answered while nodding toward the redhead, who was sitting opposite him.

"You know someone that'll help with this?" the brunette questioned, looking over at Burn.

"I help keep books for a guy that should be able to get us just what we need. I'll go talk to him tomorrow," Burn answered.

"This seems like it'll come together perfectly," Dash commented with confidence in his voice. He nodded to himself; it was going to be sweet to get that bitch of a queen back for all the years of disrespect. "I propose a toast, gentlemen."

The other pair nodded. Dash and Crash grabbed cups while Burn took in the last sip from his cup to prepare for the toast. They poured themselves some wine and raised their cups. Dash cleared his throat before he began his toast.

"To the future of a great empire, our empire," Dash said.

"Here, here," his cohorts agreed.

Cups were nodded toward each other and wine was downed without a care in the world. Revenge was going to be sweet, they thought, sweeter than most of the wines in the province. The best part of all would be that she would never disrespect them again.

--(Next day)

Burn walked down the crowded streets of the market place in the capital city. Despite the fact that the winter chill was in the air, many people were still hustling through the place, looking for bargains and amazing items. He pushed through them like a man with a purpose and made his way to one of the largest shops at the end of the wide avenue that was the main road of the market place.

The redheaded giant entered the shop and began to scan the area. There were a few people inside the place, looking at what was on display on the sleeves. He ignored them and walked to the back of the central room of the shop. He found his friend making a deal with a couple of people and just let him work his magic. By the end of it, the pair was walking away with more than what they initially required.

"You still got it, huh, Hench?" Burn remarked with a laugh, causing the shop owner to turn to look at him.

"Berman, I didn't expect to see you anytime soon," the owner, a slick-looking gentleman by the name of Hench, said. He was dressed in all black, in typical Goh-style clothing. His attire was neat and fresh, giving off a pleasant, trusting air to him, but if one was to look a little closer then it would be possible to see the waves of deceit radiating from the man.

"I need something from you," Burn replied with a shrug, trying to downplay the reason for his visit.

"Right, I got your message earlier. You want my clear spice," Hench commented with a bit of a smirk.

Burn nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, that's it."

"I've got some of that in my special stock. Wait here for a second." Hench turned around and was about to walk off, but then a thought reached him. He turned back to look at Burn. "You do know what this stuff costs, right?" the dark-haired fellow inquired.

"Of course. I'm sure I've got more than enough for what it costs and to keep you from saying I was here today," Burn replied while holding up a pouch full of gold coins.

Hench smirked and went about his business now that he saw that he was not being played with. He was a bit curious as to what Burn might want with his "clear spice," but he specialized in discretion. He had a policy of not asking any questions and not witnessing anything as long as the price was right when it came to certain items in his inventory.

The businessman went into a trapped-door in the corner of his shop. He had to light a lantern, which was waiting for him, hanging on the wall. He then descended some stairs and came to a ten by ten room. He scanned the wooden shelves around the room for what he needed and pulled a small vial full of a clear liquid from his a shelf to his left. He went back up the stairs and replaced the lantern where he got it, blowing out the flame in the process. He then returned to Burn.

"I think this is what you're looking for," Hench commented with a smirk as he held up the tiny container. He began to eye the gold pouch on the redhead's belt.

"And it's totally clean?" Burn asked while inspecting the little vial. It looked rather harmless. He could not help wondering if he was being cheated.

"Clean and quick. The person won't know what hit them," Hench informed his customer with a proud smile on his face.

"Good to know," the redhead stated with a smirk of his own.

The pair exchanged items, the bag of gold for the vial. Burn secured the vial in a pouch around his waist while Hench put his money in his sleeve, which had small pockets built in. They bid each other farewell and Burn left the shop as if nothing happened.

"Things should be interesting," Hench commented while tapping his sleeve to hear his coins jingle against each other. He smiled and shrugged; at least he made out like a bandit.

--(Next day)

Bonnie was waiting in the garden by a tree. She was tapping her finger against her arm impatiently; she was also tapping her sandal-covered foot in the grass. She huffed in annoyance; he was late.

"He better not sneak up on me again," Bonnie grumbled in a heated tone. She was already upset with Crash for being late, so if he scared her again, she was going to punch him in the face. Hmm, it would seem that her surroundings were starting to influence her with how quickly she thought of a violent consequence.

"Hey there, beautiful," Crash remarked charmingly as he casually walked up to Bonnie. He was smiling and his eyes seemed to shine, so it seemed like he was in a good mood.

Bonnie could guess why he was so visibly happy. She wanted to roll her eyes, but she smiled instead, trying to match his mood. He nodded when he saw her expression, approving of the look apparently.

"It's going to happen tonight," Crash informed her, speaking in a low voice just in case someone was nearby.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Bonnie inquired, moving around on the balls of her feet, seemingly eager to get the plan into full swing.

"Put this in her wine," Crash answered while holding up a tiny vial with a clear liquid in it.

"This is it? Are you sure this is enough to do the job?" Bonnie asked with a skeptical expression on her face as she took the container. She arched an eyebrow as she inspected the little vial. It did not look harmful in any way.

"That's it. She'll never know what hit her," the brunette soldier commented with a devilish smirk.

"If you say so. Now, if I do this, are you sure I can go home?" Bonnie inquired to be sure.

"By tomorrow you'll be heading right back to the West and you'll be home before you know it," he promised.

Bonnie nodded and smiled. She put the vial away in a sash around her waist. She kept an eye on Crash, who continued to smile.

"Maybe before you go home, we could spend a little more time together," he proposed with a new smile, a suggestive one.

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Bonnie answered, smiling back at him while trying to fight off the urge to shudder. Her skin was crawling because of the implications in his words, but he did not seem to notice.

He thankfully left before Bonnie lost control. She made a gagging face and then got herself together in case someone was watching her. She then walked off while putting her hand on the place that she secured the vial. She wanted to make sure that she still had the thing.

* * *

Team Impossible was a bit surprised to find out that they had been invited to dine with the Queen, but it was not all that uncommon. Shego brought in high-ranking members of her military to eat with her during her own personal dinners whenever it occurred to her to do so. She found that it created a closer atmosphere than inviting everyone to a huge party every now and then; it also resulted in less drunken people wandering the palace at all hours of the day.

The trio were told that she wanted to discuss plans for the Western campaign since the weather would be improving in a couple of months, which made sense to them. The gathering seemed rather normal with the Queen, her favorite general, and her adopted sister being there. Also there was Kim's grandmother, who was a trusted battle strategist, even though she only occasionally went to battlefields since her retirement a few years ago.

The lack of other guests showed that it was actually just Shego's personal dinner. It was not some meeting for every high-ranked soldiers or officials. Team Impossible did not think anything of it because it was not unusual.

The trio of men sat down in the hall and servants came out of nowhere to put down trays before them. The usual chat was started up about the campaign while the servants moved around the diners to make sure food and drinks kept coming. The men did note that Bonnie was in place near the Queen. They watched her carefully while no one else seemed to pay her any mind. Bonnie noticed the trio eyeing her.

It took a lot for the foreigner to not fidget where she stood with their hard eyes watching her. Her heart did speed up a bit, but nothing to be alarmed about. She figured that she had a very valid and good reason for being nervous.

"Okay, well, I guess it's now or never," Bonnie thought to herself with a gulp.

The western princess glanced around to make sure no one was looking at her and then she pulled the vial from her waist. She quickly poured the liquid into Shego's pitcher of wine. Not even five seconds later, Shego signaled for a drink. Bonnie glanced at Team Impossible, who stared on with interest in their eyes. She quietly gulped against before granting Shego's request for wine.

Shego put the cup to her lips and Team Impossible almost leaned forward in anticipation. She then suddenly stopped and reached for some bread that was in front of her. She ate the bread and was about to drink from her cup, but then Betty decided to speak up. Team Impossible was ready to scream.

"You know, if we take the path through Middleton, we'd hit more cities to sack than going by river once we get into the West," Betty pointed out, keeping the conversation on their main concern.

"More cities mean more casualties," the elder Possible countered.

"I know, but it also means more money, which keeps the war going," the one-eyed woman said.

"That's a good point," Shego concurred with a little bit of a laugh. It was not very often one of them, meaning her, Betty, or Kim, scored a point against the matriarch of the Possible family.

"I guess you lose, Nana," Kim remarked with a chuckle of her own. Her grandmother only smiled and conceded the matter to Betty with a nod of her wine cup.

Shego seemed to remember that she was going to take a drink as she watched the elder Possible do the same. Shego put her cup to her mouth and took her usual gulp. She licked her lips as she pulled the cup away and Team Impossible waited with baited breath, believing that in ten seconds they would never have to put up with Shego asking "what the hell are their names again?"

* * *

Next time: did Shego just drink a deadly poison?


	14. Trial and error

I don't own these characters.

14: Trial and error

Team Impossible were waiting anxious for something quite unordinary to happen. They were actually waiting for Shego, their Queen, to fall dead. She had just gulped down a cup full of wine mixed with deadly poison as far as they knew. The fatal potion was delivered to her drink by her very own cupbearer; they had witnessed it themselves. Yet, ten seconds later, Shego was still very much alive.

Bonnie appeared quite nervous when Shego drank from the cup. What if something went wrong? It was a rather frightening thought, causing her heart to beat faster. It seemed like the organ was pounding in her ears. Her throat was tight and dry as Shego coughed a bit after swallowing her drink. She tried her best to not hyperventilate while watching the Queen put her cup down.

"The wine was a bit bitter," Shego commented while making a face, which included sticking out her tongue and shaking her head.

"You shouldn't have drank it then, smart guy," Kim remarked with a scoff.

"You know what, pumpkin, the day I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you," the pale monarch replied good-naturedly while holding up a clawed hand.

"On to more important matters," Nana Possible cut in as she knew that Kim and Shego could go at each other and lose sight of the big picture. She did not feel like being there all night.

"Oh, right," Shego said, as if she had actually forgotten what was going on. "Seize them," she ordered while motioning to Team Impossible with a demon-like smirk forming upon her lips.

Before the male trio could move, they found themselves being pounced on by servants, who they did not know were spies working for Betty. They were about to start struggling with those fellows, but before they could get a proper offense going, they were put in their places. Each man had a blade put to his throat, each blade belonging to a different woman, one Betty, one Kim, and one Kim's nana.

"What's the meaning of this!" Dash demanded to know in a harsh bark with a fierce expression on his face. He pulled a bit against the people holding him, but not too much as he did not want to lose his head right then and there to Betty's keen, serrated blade.

Despite Dash's prostrating, his heart was in his throat, beating faster than he would have thought possible. Sweat was already forming on his brow. He had never felt quite as scared in his life as he did that moment, even on the battlefield. He had never felt like he was as close to death as he was now. He could practically feel the icy nip of the other side gnawing at his soul from Betty's sword.

Betty was glaring at Dash with a frosty look in her eye. She wished that he would try something. She would spill his blood faster than he could blink, but that was only if he tried something.

"Right, we haven't done anything wrong!" Crash pointed out, looking just as fierce as his leader. He moved even less than Dash though, already feeling Kim's curved sword biting into his neck.

Sweat was actually already running down Crash's face. The look in Kim's olive eyes seemed like it alone should kill him, but he dreaded having to taste her sword before death; he had seen her in action with it after all. He was taking controlled breaths, making sure not to even twitch too hard lest Kim waste no time in removing his head from its favorite resting place.

Kim knew that her prisoner was scared out of his wits and he needed to be. Under any other circumstances, she would have sliced his head off without a thought. How dare the bastard try to harm her big sister!? Who the hell did he think he was?! Instead, she held her blade steadily at his throat, waiting for word on what to do next with the scum.

"Yeah, this is a joke, right?" Burn inquired in a shaky voice. It was taking everything inside of him to not tremble. He was not even looking up at the ladies like his cohorts were. His eyes were focused squaring on the elder Possible's thick broad sword that was so close to his skin that he could swear the metal was breathing on him.

Had Burn bothered to look up, he would have noticed the utterly serious glint in Nana's eyes. He could pretty much feel her eyes on him and it seemed to come through in a roaring fire through her weapon. He had heard tales of feeling a powerful warrior's aura through a weapon, but it was his first time experiencing it. He gulped, silently praying that he did not experience anything else of the eldest Possible.

Nana's hand was steady as her granddaughter and Betty. She was not really wishing that Burn did anything. She did know that he planned to move, she would make him regret it completely.

"A very funny joke," Shego assured them with a devilish smile on her face. She looked about ready to devour their immortal souls as she hopped up from her pillow. She leaped over her tray and stood up, still smiling like a predator that caught sight of new prey.

Shego watched with demented satisfaction as the team misunderstood her words and tried to get up. The swords that were on them were pushed slightly into their flesh, biting them with cold metal teeth, especially Betty's sword since it had serrated edges. The men gulped and sat back in their original positions while sweat ran down their faces.

"I don't think you guys quite get it," the green-skinned monarch remarked, still looking thoroughly amused though slightly insane.

"What do you mean?" Dash asked with a frown marring his handsome features. His breathing was now heavy and his heart was ready to explode. There was a little shiver coming through on his arms and shoulders.

"I thought it was obvious. I'm about to show you three my psychic abilities. I'm going to read your minds," Shego boasted, a dark, lop-sided grin on her as she paced in front of them.

"What do you mean?" Crash inquired, teeth chattering now. His chest was heaving, as if he knew exactly how much Kim just wanted to mar the room by having his head rolling on the floor.

"You're wondering 'how the fuck is she still breathing?' 'Is she really a damn demon?' 'Maybe she's immortal.' They're all very good guesses, but the point of the matter is, I'm still alive despite your attempt at poisoning me," Shego informed the trio in a very matter-of-fact tone.

"Poisoning you?" the men echoed as if they did not have any clue as to what she was talking about. Their faces were incredulous to the words coming out of her mouth. The cold sweats told her a different story anyway.

"Yeah, poisoning me," the green-skinned woman stated soundly. "You put poison in my wine," she said.

"We never touched your wine," Burn pointed out vehemently, forcefully, hoping that he would be believed. Kim did not look moved, nor did any of the other ladies.

"Yeah, only your little cupbearer has touched your wine. So, if you think you've been poisoned, it had to be her," Dash alleged quite seriously. Hey, he was looking to save his skin now and he did not think that some little barbarian was worth his loyalty. His teammates agreed with that and they prayed that the Queen saw their logic.

Shego looked as if she was shocked by that and turned around to look at Bonnie, who just rolled her eyes and looked away. Shego turned her attention back to her newest captives. She smirked at them; it was almost as if she planned on eating them alive.

"You expect me to believe my little hellcat poisoned me on her own?" the Queen inquired in a skeptical tone while motioning toward her lover with an elegant sweep of her hand.

"If it was in your wine, it had to be her," Dash argued, motioning violently toward Bonnie with his hand. That rough movement brought him a frown from Betty and a bite from her weapon. He winced as the monster blade ripped into his flesh just deep enough to get him to think the next time he moved without permission.

"Funny because I'm sure that when I call Jack Hench here and ask him who sold him this." Shego went into her sleeve and pulled out a small vial with a clear liquid in it. "I'm sure as hell that he's not going to say it was my hellcat."

Team Impossible's eyes would have fallen out of their skulls if it were possible when they saw that particular vial in her hand. They were not too sure what to say to counter that. If she was holding the potion and knew about Jack Hench, then it seemed that they had been ratted out.

"Now, you guys want to blame someone else before I have you taken away and beheaded?" Shego inquired, sounding amused although the way through, even though she was far from amused. How dare those blowhards try to throw her hellcat to the wolves with such reckless abandon! The nerve of those bastards! Oh, she was going to take them down.

"You're forgetting they get fair hearings," Nana reminded her, glancing at the Queen for a moment and then turning her attention back to Burn.

"Damn it," Shego cursed under her breath. The laws of the entire Goh Empire promised trials to all criminals, no matter what the crime or severity. "Ah well, I'm still beheading you. It just won't be tonight after dessert. You can get rid of these guys," she dismissed them with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"Wait, before we do that, I really need to know what the hell was the idea behind this plan?" Betty inquired, speaking to the trio. She could not figure out what the hell those guys were thinking in trying to kill the Queen. How fucking stupid were they?!

The men did not talk and Betty did not press the issue…at the moment anyway. She could not help wondering what the trio thought they were doing. It was not like they would be next in line if Shego were to die and they would just raise suspicions if they tried for the throne. There was also the fact that they would make a bunch of powerful enemies. Betty just did not understand what was going on. She and Kim were going to later be unbelievably pissed when they found out that the guys were just bitter with their lot in life and they felt that the Queen just did not respect them.

Shego turned her attention to Bonnie while her other guests took away her would-be assassins. She smiled at the petite princess, who looked away because she did not want Shego to see that she was blushing. The pale woman was not bothered by Bonnie's coy act; she actually enjoyed it. She walked over to Bonnie and back to her seat, pulling Bonnie down with her. She cuddled with the smaller female, surprising Bonnie and causing her to blush even more. Bonnie felt like a fire had been lit and was spreading through her whole body just from the simple contact.

"Let's eat," Shego said with a grin. She looked absolutely delighted, despite the fact that she just almost been killed.

"Not here!" Bonnie eep-ed.

Shego could not help chuckling. That was quite the amusing misunderstanding there, she thought. Bonnie probably thought that she was a lecher, Shego figured with a smile. She did not mind that and just hugged Bonnie to her tighter than before.

Bonnie relaxed when she saw that Shego was not going to do anything dirty in front of the many servants that roamed around. She also sighed in relief that Shego was all right. She had been rather scared that Shego had actually downed the poison, even though the Queen had made the switch herself.

Bonnie was not too sure what would happen if the Queen actually had been poisoned. She did not want to think about it; she did not want to think about Shego dying. It had little to do that she was not too sure how she would get home or what would happen to her without the Queen's protection. She just did not want to think of her life without Shego.

"Shego…" Bonnie said quietly, earning her lover's full attention.

"Yes?" the green-skinned woman replied, trying to hide her intrigue. She liked hearing her name on the princess' lips, but she loved to hear her name in such a low, sexy tone.

"How'd you know where they'd go for that poison?" the princess inquired curiously.

"It's not a hard guess. Hench makes a lot of stuff and he's always top quality. I also know that…what's his name…the redhead one helps Hench with his books sometimes. He just didn't take into account that Hench's best customer is me, since I get him a lot of army contracts and shit like that. So, the Hench angle wasn't that hard," Shego explained with a shrug. Her gaze wandered back up to the buffet laying ahead of her, trying to stop thinking about how wonderful it would be for Bonnie to say her name again in that low voice.

Bonnie nodded. There were other bits about the counter-plot that she wanted to ask about, but she was not sure if Shego would be serious with her. She supposed that she needed to just read between the lines with things, like the fact that Shego seemed to honest and truly trust her. Shego believed her right away when she told her about the assassination plot, Shego trusted her to play a role in foiling the trio, and most of all Shego trusted her to hand over the deadly poison that came from Hench when she could have just as easily used it on Shego ahead of schedule. Bonnie was secretly amazed and flattered by the faith the Queen had in her. She was just glad that right now she was with her and they were both alive.

"Shego, how about we skip dinner?" Bonnie suggested with an odd smile on her face. She was speaking in a low tone, but also a purr.

The Queen abruptly stopped her thoughts of food, nearly choked on air, and looked down at the younger female to make sure that she had heard right. Shego's face was incredulous and her mouth dropped open, practically landing in Bonnie's lap when she saw the western princess' coquettish expression. Bonnie had a devilish smirk on her face to make matters worse.

"I'm going to ask if you're serious just so I don't have to deal with whining after I pick you up and run to my bedroom," Shego said. Oh gods, she hoped that the smaller female was serious.

"You better do something quick or I might change my mind," Bonnie teased as she feigned tiredness, yawning a bit at the end of her statement.

Shego did not have to be told twice. She climbed to her feet, making sure to hold onto her petite lover. The pale woman wasted no time getting to her bedroom, kicking out all of the servants milling about the place, and leaving Bonnie breathless…over and over again.

The Queen chuckled to herself while watching Bonnie, who was curled into her side and sleeping hard as a rock. The younger woman was practically clinging to Shego, as she had been doing much of the night. Her leg was thrown over both of Shego's, as if telling the Queen that there was no escape. Shego was stunned to figure out that she did not wish to escape. She was quite all right where she was and totally content with whom she was with, but she did not think too hard on it, lest she find something that she was not ready to admit.

"Now, I just need to get you some stamina," Shego commented, chuckling again. She was used to surrounding herself with people who were able to keep up with her and Bonnie did a decent job of that. It was just that once the action was done, so was Bonnie.

Shego supposed that Bonnie just needed to get used to things. She smiled to herself, thinking about all of the "teaching" that she had to do with Bonnie. She was looking forward to that, willing to bet that it would be quite fun.

The Queen did not think too much on the fact that she seemed to have plans on Bonnie being around for a while or the fact that she was actually happy with her current situation. The one thing that she did let creep into her head was that Bonnie had come through for her. The princess had had an opportunity to maybe kill her and did not take it; she considered it a "maybe" because she had yet to meet a poison that her system could not defeat. Not only did Bonnie not take the chance, but also she told Shego about it and easily went along with the counter-scheme for it.

"I think someone's going native," Shego silently teased her sleeping lover. She was not going to complain.

--(New day)

"So, did we figure out why…what the hell are their names again?" Shego inquired with a baffled look on her face. She was speaking to Betty and Kim while they were walking down a hallway in the palace. She was without Bonnie once again, as the foreigner was doing something "secret" with Tara. She was going to have to find out what the "secret" was before she started getting jealous, which she was close to doing.

"Team Impossible," Kim offered.

"Yeah, them. Did we ever figure out why they wanted me dead?" Shego asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah, believe it or not, that thing you just did is one of the reasons," the redheaded young woman answered with a little laugh. She was not amused with her sister almost being killed, but it was not something that she had to worry about now that the team was taken care of.

"What thing I just did?" the Queen inquired with a puzzled expression.

"They didn't think you respected them. You can't remember their names, you brush off things they view as accomplishments, and you don't acknowledge them like you do… what was the exact words they used? I think it was you don't acknowledge their 'efforts like she does you savage, barbarian bitches.' Apparently, they think that they should get special treatment because the provinces they were born in have been in the Goh Empire since your grandfather's day," Betty explained with a scoff.

Shego's face fell in a look of utter disbelief. "You're kidding me right?" She hoped that Betty was kidding because if not, those were just about the dumbest reasons that someone had ever had to want to kill her.

"I wish I was. The trial is scheduled for tomorrow, even though they confessed," Betty reported with a meaningless flip of her hand.

"I'm going to guess that Kim's grandmother worked on them for that to happen," the pale woman remarked with a laugh.

Kim half-smirked, looking like a demon. "What can I say, Nana's very persuasive," she quipped with a chuckle.

"Don't we all know it," Betty sighed. Her companions followed her lead and shook their heads as if they were weary. They were pretty sure that there was some demon in the Possible family with the way Kim's nana worked when given the chance; the same could be said of Kim if the conditions were right.

"Well, that takes care of them. What're we going to do for the rest of the winter?" Shego inquired, which was something on the other two warriors' minds.

The trio supposed that they were the only people in the whole kingdom ready to leave. If it was up to them, they would probably battle all-year around, but Shego and Betty knew that letting the soldiers go home for the winter was good for morale. It was hell for them, though. It was not even like they all shared the same dream or goal, but they all did like being out on campaign.

Kim liked being out on campaign because she seemed to be a born warrior. It was not just the fighting, but also the chance to do amazing things, which she was never short on. She was just in her element when she was out there either fighting or being the Queen's messenger or being a scout/spy for Betty.

Betty was into her role as general, among other things. Leadership was something that she took to like a fish to water, but being a warrior on its own was something that was just in her too. She felt like she had purpose when leading in battle, making her mark on the world, changing the world. She liked to think that she was changing the world for the better, uniting the world all under the Goh banner. She also felt like she was doing right by the Empire that had given her so much. She had been able to rise to a status that she could not even dream of thanks to Shego, have more than she could even imagine, and to pay the Queen back, she would do her best to help Shego realize her dream.

"Well, we could do some drinking," Shego proposed, just throwing it out there. They could always drink and play chess or something while talking. It would turn into drunken chess, which typically turned into a fight since they were all sore losers, but it was still something to do.

"I come home drunk for no reason one more night and Viv's going to fire me out of a catapult…into a spiked wall," Betty commented with a weary look on her face.

"Sounds like something she'd do," the pale woman remarked with a chuckle.

"You know, it's weird that Vivian loves you so much, yet she is just a terror to you, but she's nice to everyone else," Kim pointed out.

"She's not as bad as Betty makes us think she is. After all, you see how they're always cuddled up in a corner when we have a little gathering," Shego countered.

"Hey, she _is_ as bad as I make her out to be. Don't try to make me out to be a liar," Betty argued, lightly hitting the monarch in the shoulder.

Shego rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. She's so horrible that when you think no one's around that you have to talk to her in baby talk?" she inquired with an evil grin on her face.

Betty gagged, sounding something like a drowning cat. "Wha-wha-what are you talking about?!" she inquired with her eye bulging in horror. Her voice was shaking so badly that she could barely get the question out.

Shego chuckled a bit while animated darkness shaded her eyes. Betty seemed to know what was coming, namely a triad of quotes with Shego impersonating her speaking to Vivian in a cutesy tone. To avoid having Kim hear that, Betty pounced, moving forward and throwing her hand over Shego's mouth. They began a struggle that Kim just watched without comment.

"Hey, K.P!" Ron called as he came up behind the redhead. He then took notice of the Queen and the general wrestling, now on the floor. "Um…do I even wanna know?" he inquired curiously with a slightly disturbed expression in his deep brown eyes. To think, those were the two most powerful women in the whole province and they were rolling around on the floor like two-year-olds. It did not help matters that he was actually scared of both women and his brain just did not know how to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Apparently, our fearless general speaks in baby-talk to Vivian when no one's around," Kim answered as if it was nothing.

Ron made another face and then shook his head. "I can't even picture it."

"Me neither, but I don't think these two would go this far over a lie," Kim replied with a laugh while motioning to the pair, who were still grappling with each other.

"Uh…yeah, so you done with work?" Ron inquired, wanting to get away from the scene as soon as possible. He knew that Kim had had a surprising assignment thrown her way after an assassination plot had been uncovered, but he had not asked for many details. He hoped that that was out of the way, so they could hang out while they had the chance. Sure, it was cold outside, but there were still plenty of things to do and they would not have duck while doing it; once the weather warmed up, almost everything that they did would involve ducking, dodging, or moving out of the way of something dangerous.

"Yeah, I'm done. We can go," Kim replied with a smile. Ron smiled too and hooked his arm around Kim's waist. The couple just left Betty and Shego rolling around on the floor like two playful toddlers.

* * *

Bonnie was a bit surprised by the greeting that she received when she came in from hanging out with Tara. Shego practically tackled her, grabbing her into a strong and warm embrace. They both sighed, apparently liking the contact and feeling at ease with each other.

"Seems like you missed me," Bonnie teased the green-skinned woman, smiling a bit as she spoke. It would be nice to be missed, she thought.

Shego scoffed and reluctantly released the little princess. Bonnie almost wished that she could take the words back, but decided to play it cool, looking nonchalant about things. Shego put her usual devilishly playful expression on her face. They then faced each other, masks fully in place.

"So, what did you do today?" Shego inquired as she and Bonnie started just walking through the palace. They did not have a destination in mind and did not even seem to realize that they had started walking off with each other.

Bonnie glanced away for a very brief second. She was good, Shego thought, because she figured that a less observant person would have missed that look away. What in the world did Bonnie and Tara do together that they did not want to talk about? The Queen wanted to know, but she did not want to make it seem like she was prying because she did not want to push Bonnie away. She also did not want to give off the impression that she cared; gods forbid someone found out that she had deep emotions underneath her cranky exterior.

"You know, girl stuff. I'm having more jewelry and stuff brought here later on. Okay?" Bonnie asked. The question actually came out by accident because she did want to know if it was all right. She meant to just make it seem like she was telling the warrior queen how things were and that was it, like she would do with anyone else.

Shego shrugged; she did not care about Bonnie having anything delivered. She did note that the petite princess liked spending her money almost as much as she did. She already knew that Tara could shop with the best of them; hell, if Tara went out with Vivian, they were known to leave whole streets free of items and venders very rich.

"I might have to go out shopping with you," Shego commented, seeming coming out of the blue with that.

"What, to watch my spending?" Bonnie inquired with a half-smile. It was like she was teasing, but underneath it all, she was a bit nervous that the Queen was getting annoyed with her spending habits.

"No, to shop with you. What, you don't think barbarians shop?" the pale woman teased.

Bonnie laughed a bit. She never thought about going out with Shego to do some shopping. She supposed that she should give it a try. It could prove fun.

"When do you want to do it?" the tanned female asked.

"I guess whenever you're ready for another round. I'll have to tear you away from Tara," Shego replied, smiling to make it seem like she was joking. Much to her horror, Bonnie was starting to see through her mask.

"Aw, you're jealous, aren't you?" Bonnie said with a smirk on her face. She felt like she had struck gold with that one. It was time for her to start winning some little arguments now!

Shego balked and began to sputter before she could get a rather lame comeback out of her mouth. "No!"

"Yes, you are. It's written all over your face. You're jealous of Tara," Bonnie stated plainly, smirk still in place. Oh, yes, she had definitely hit pay dirt.

"No, I'm not! Why would I be jealous of Tara? We're not even on the same level!" Shego huffed, turning her mouth up in offense at the mere suggestion of the truth. Fine, she was jealous of Tara, but that did not need to be said out loud like that. Someone might actually hear it, after all.

Bonnie started giggling, enjoying what was happening on many levels. First, the fact that she had gotten to Shego was priceless, especially since she seemed to have zapped away Shego's ability to make a witty retort. Second, the fact that Shego was jealous showed that Bonnie held some value to her, which caused a warm feeling to spread through the princess like a calm spring. And then, there was the fact that Bonnie was getting to better understand Shego without them having to have a long conversation, which Shego seemed to hate.

"You don't have to go shopping with me out of jealousy," Bonnie continued on.

"I. Am. NOT. Jealous," Shego said through gritted teeth. Beyond the fact that she was what she claimed she was not, she would like to spend sometime with Bonnie doing other activities. She wanted to show Bonnie a good time.

"No? Doesn't seem that way," the younger female said nonchalantly, waving off the Queen's claims.

Shego growled, upset that she was the butt of a joke instead of the one making the joke. She grabbed Bonnie around the waist and pushed the princess into a nearby wall. It was not a rough move, but very surprising and swift. Shego made sure that Bonnie did not hit the wall hard. She pressed her body against Bonnie, who was in shock because the actions seemed to take place in less than a second.

"I don't have to be jealous of Tara. I'm the one that has you," the green-skinned warrior commented in a low tone, still sounding angry.

"Shego…" Bonnie was not sure what to say. She was not afraid, even though she knew the strength of the woman holding her and it was clear that Shego was not in a pleasant mood. She was just stunned at how much that she got to Shego with the little teasing about her being jealous.

"I've got you," Shego said in a whisper and she lowered her mouth to Bonnie's.

The princess was surprised by the kiss, but she did not resist it. At first, Shego seemed to be asserting her authority through the kiss, saying that she had no reason to be jealous. But, as the embrace went on, it softened and spoke something much differently, something that Bonnie felt and appreciated. It was when that gentle affection broke through that Bonnie's brain lost control of her body and it acted on its own. Her arms wrapped themselves around Shego's neck, pulling the Queen closer, signaling her want for more. Shego eagerly delivered until the need for air overtook them and they had to pull away.

"So, what did you do with Tara?" the emerald-eyed woman asked while trying to catch her breath.

Typically, Bonnie's defenses would have been up and she would have been suspicious of the actions that preceded the question. She would have assumed that Shego had used the kiss just to leave her in a haze. Her mind did not jump to such a conclusion that time. She was just honest with her lover.

"We danced in a show," the tanned foreigner answered through a series of pants.

"Danced?" Shego echoed, shocked by that response. She had been expecting a few answers, but that one never even came to mind.

"Yeah." A blush crept onto Bonnie's face. She was embarrassed to have admitted such a thing now since it was such a disgraceful thing to be in a show. Actors really seemed to be the lowest of the low as far as status went, no matter what culture. "It was just this one time," she lied now. She felt like she had to cover up to avoid Shego thinking less of her.

Shego chuckled a bit and gently rested her forehead against Bonnie's head before replying. "I doubt it. Tara sneaks into shows all the time, after all," she pointed out.

Bonnie went rigid from surprise. "You know about that?"

"Well, Tara's not trying to keep it much of a secret since she used to drag Kimmie to those things too. Kim went because aside for loving attention, which she won't admit to, she likes making kids laugh. They've taken Kim's buffoon with them a few times too. It's a hit or miss thing with him, but laughter is a guarantee," she remarked.

"It…doesn't bother you?" Bonnie asked in a guarded tone, trying her best to make it sound like she did not care. But, there was the fact that if she did not care, she would not have asked the question.

"It takes a lot to bother me, kitten, or haven't you noticed?" the pale woman countered. She did not have anything against Bonnie being in a show for the fun of it, just like it did not bother her when Kim and Ron did it, even though they were very visible members of her court. They were not hurting anyone or doing any physical harm to her ambitions, so they were free to do whatever they wanted.

Bonnie could not argue against that one. After all, the way that she had behaved when first brought into the Goh Empire should have bothered Shego, but only seemed to serve as entertainment for her. She was actually quite glad that it did not bother Shego that she had been in a show dancing because she had enjoyed it.

"Maybe next time you do it, I'll be in the audience," Shego commented with a smile.

Bonnie smiled. "Maybe I don't want you to see."

"Maybe I don't give a damn about what you want."

Bonnie chuckled a bit and Shego did the same. They then seemed to have the same thought at the same moment. They leaned into each other and started kissing again. When they pulled away, Bonnie finally remembered that they were in an open hallway and just about anyone could see them at such personal moments.

"Um…do you suppose we could carry on with this somewhere less…" Bonnie trailed off and just glanced around.

"I thought you'd like putting on a show, though," Shego teased with a lop-sided smile.

Bonnie quickly frowned and huffed, not seeing the amusement in those words. Shego laughed a bit, liking the sour look on Bonnie's face. She leaned in to give the princess a small peck on the lips. She then pulled away, letting Bonnie off of the wall. They then walked off, looking for a bit more privacy.

* * *

Next time: party time, Mego torture, and Mego notices something about the way his sister acts with Bonnie.


	15. In check

I don't own these characters.

15: In check

The winter pressed on, getting colder, but not quite as cold as Bonnie was used to winters being. Shego's kingdom was located further south that Bonnie's homeland, so that explained why it was not as cold as the foreigner was accustomed to. The capital city was also close to water, which held the summer heat longer than the ground did. There was also the fact that the clothing of the Gohs seemed to be made to fight off the cold; there was a layer expected to be worn underneath regular clothing that was made especially to combat the chill of winter. Bonnie loved how that under layer, which the Gohs referred to as "heat armor"; she could not help commenting on how the barbarians related everything to war.

There was the alternative theory that the winter might not be as cold as Bonnie expected. It was possibly because she got to spend her nights curled up next to the hot-blooded Queen and her days knowing that she was wanted and appreciated by the Queen. Bonnie would not argue that latter theory, even though she liked to believe that that was the reason she felt so warm all the time.

Once a real chill was in the air, making its way through layers of clothes and shelters, winter consisted of two activities in the palace from what Bonnie could tell. There was business and there was pleasure. Both were planned in advance by Shego and whichever trusted members of her court was nearby. The one was going to happen did seem to come to Shego on a whim, but other than that, things were put together days in advance.

But, Bonnie did find that most things in Shego's kingdom was done on her whim, but somehow planned out. It was just about the strangest thing because it seemed so disorganized, but it worked out. Sometimes, Bonnie actually found herself wondering if Shego's management was that way on the battlefield. It did not seem like that would be a good way to conduct a war, but the results spoke for themselves on that one.

Bonnie was stunned to find that she was invited to business meetings if she wished to show up. Typically though, when Shego was handling business, Bonnie went to hang out with Tara. She did appreciate how open Shego seemed to be with her though, allowing her, a foreign princess, into meetings to witness how her section of the Goh Empire was run. Administration work was boring in her opinion, though; Shego agreed. So, that was why she mostly went out with Tara. But, every now and then, she did join Shego.

"Look, this idea is so stupid, I can't even insult it," the Queen said. She was sitting on her throne with Bonnie cuddled up against her. The person that Shego was speaking with was standing before them. He looked utterly shocked by her blunt statement.

"To think, I could be out with Tara right now," Bonnie muttered, although she silently admitted that shopping with the blonde did not compare to being snuggled into her lover.

"Don't start," Shego said in a low voice to the princess.

"I'm just saying," Bonnie replied.

"Whatever," Shego said while turning her attention back to the man in their presence. "Yeah, so like I said, idea so stupid, I can't even insult it. In fact, that idea is so stupid, my kitten probably can't even insult it and she's a fucking hellcat."

"I could insult it, but I'm not going to waste my time on it," the foreign princess commented with a scoff.

"That's two 'this idea sucks.' Get the hell out of my sight," Shego ordered.

The man wisely just left. It was little interactions like that that kept Bonnie from always going out with Tara whenever Shego had business to take care of. She hoped that the next guy coming in would prove just as entertaining since she was going to be there all day with her lover.

Now, the parties thrown in the palace were a different matter. Those Bonnie attended all of the time with Shego. She did not need coaxing or bribing to go to those either like she did when it came to the business meetings.

Goh parties were a wild way to past the time, but Bonnie had seen plenty of wild parties in her short life. She was growing used to the insanity that went on at a feast thrown in the royal palace. Some of the parties were not all that big, so they were not as chaotic as the larger gatherings. The smaller ones were usually get-togethers that mixed business and pleasure, but after a while not much business happened since all of that pleasure was around acting as a distraction.

--(New day)

The small, decked out hall was filled with joyous laughter as the night dragged on. There were about thirty guests in the room, all enjoying food, wine, and entertainment thanks to the Queen. They were all lounging on pillows that were set up on the light colored floor; they were having fun with anything within arms' reach.

The gathering was just to keep the moral of her officers and her more valuable soldiers. They were of mixed genders, ethnicities, and ages, but everyone was high in the army because of their ability in battle. They had tried to talk about the Western campaign, which they were all pleased that they would be getting back to soon enough. They did not make it far, getting into their cups and delighting in several different types of meat with all sorts of other foods.

It did not help the beginning topic that most of the people attending were good friends along with being proud smart-alecks that always had something to say. It was quite easy to get them off topic in a short time. All they needed was one good joke or insult and the conversation might never see the main point again.

"Okay, now, that's just bullshit," one officer called to another across the room.

"Shut up, you weren't there. You don't know," the other replied while throwing up a one-finger salute.

"I know you fucked up and you don't want to admit."

"I fucked up?" the other officer echoed incredulously, her eyes wide as if she seriously could not believe what she was hearing. "I'm not the one that's always late!"

"No, you're impatient, so you're always ahead of schedule!" the first officer hollered. He returned her salute with one of his own.

"Don't try to blame your fuck up on me. Ask the Queen, I bet she'll tell you which one of us is the dumbass here."

"You both talk too much and show up too early or too late. Now, shut up and enjoy the party before I call your father out of retirement and give him his damn post back so I don't have to hear you two screaming anymore," Shego informed them, showing that she was paying the pair some mind.

Both officers turned their eyes toward the Queen, as did whoever else was listening to their argument; there were not that many. Shego was at the head of the room, flanked by her friends and their partners with trays set up in front of them. She was camped out on a large, fluffy, deep green pillow with Bonnie at her side, sharing her seat. The display showed that Bonnie was close to the Queen and let everyone around know that she was special to the Queen. In fact, the only person that had ever been allowed to sit with Shego before Bonnie was Kim and the redhead rarely sat with the Queen at parties.

To Shego's right, Kim was sitting with Ron on a large red pillow. They almost always sat together at gatherings; in fact, they were almost always together point blank. The only time they were not together were when they were wandered apart for whatever reason; Kim usually being called away by Shego for one thing or another. Ron had one arm around Kim; it would have been quite possessive if only he did not seem a bit sleepy. His eyes were drooping ever-so slightly, but then again, almost everyone in the room eyes were like that.

To the Queen's left, Betty sat on dark blue pillow with Vivian, who was merrily curled up into the brunette's side. Betty was smiling slightly, glad with her significant other pressed against her. She had her arm around the engineer, lightly caressing Vivian's side. Vivian shared a similar tired look to the one that Ron was sporting. There was a distinct crimson hue in the blondes' cheeks as well as Bonnie's face.

"These cakes are so good," Shego commented, smiling a bit as she plucked up a small cake from a nearby tray.

"All you do is eat cake," Kim said, as if that was an insult. There was a tiny bit of red touching her cheeks, but not much.

"Cake-eater," Ron chimed in with a chuckle, saying it as if he was cursing the Queen.

Shego made a hand motion to mock the young couple. Vivian started giggling because of that. Betty glanced down at her lover and smiled. They had been at the gathering for a few hours now, so it was safe to say that they were all at least a little drunk; "at least" was probably being kind about it.

"We need to get out of here," Kim remarked as she started laughing uncontrollably. Her comment seemed rather random, but it seemed right to say, at least in her head it sounded right.

"We just got here," Ron pointed out, motioning around the room with a hand that he was holding food with. He had a chicken kabob in his hand; it was half-eaten already.

"I meant we need to get out of the palace. All of us. This is no way for us to spend our time," she argued, still laughing, but she did manage to point to a pitcher of wine that was in front of them. She was trying to explain that they needed to get back out on their campaign, but her mind and mouth were not making the right connections. To her, at least when they were out on campaign, they did useful things. At home, in the winter, all they seemed to do was have parties and drink.

"This is the perfect way to spend time," Shego countered while pulling Bonnie closer to her, holding the princess to her body by keeping her arm around the younger female's waist.

Shego caressed Bonnie's arm, which brought out a low purr in the princess. The pale woman smiled a bit and then she took a bite of her cake. She then put the cake to Bonnie's mouth and the tanned female took a nibble from the snack, which brought another smile to the Queen's face.

"We keep this up and we'll end up out of shape," Betty said and she took a sip of her wine. She then shared the drink with Vivian and there laid the trouble for half of the little group; they were all drinking the same uncut wine.

Vivian's eyes dropped a bit more once she downed the drink. She was not sure what made her start taking wine from Betty's cup, but she was not in the right frame of mind to stop now. She was in a happy little intoxicated state, though; at least she had an excuse for leaning so much into Betty. Not that she ever really needed an excuse to do that.

Ron was drinking Kim's wine, but it started out as an accident, like always with him. He had a habit of putting his cup down near Kim's cup and they looked exactly the same every time he did it. He eventually started getting into eating and then would not bother to even glance down when he wanted a drink. The next thing he knew, he was feeling a bit dizzy and sleepy. He usually blamed it on eating too much, knowing that he could go overboard sometimes.

"Says you," Shego muttered to Betty's statement about them being out of shape. She took a swig of her own drink and then shared with Bonnie. The behavior had been going on most of the night, so it was really no surprise that a few minutes later, Bonnie passed out.

Kim snickered. "She can't take it," the redhead commented while pointing a crooked index finger at Bonnie.

"Look who's talking," Shego said while motioning to Ron.

Kim looked down at her side to see Ron was knocked out; Rufus was laid out on his belly. She did not want to laugh, but she could not help it thanks to her current state. She chuckled like a hyena. Shego started laughing too.

"You two need help," Betty remarked. Her mind was too hazy to know why exactly they needed help, but she knew that they needed it.

Kim and Shego, showing their inebriated state further, stuck their tongues out at Betty. The general's onyx eye went wide for a moment, seeming to be seriously offended by the move. She decided to counter it, by snuggling Vivian, who was still conscious; for how long remained to be seen. Shego and Kim frowned, immediately getting why Betty would do such a thing. They had no lovers to cuddle with like her since their lovers were unconscious.

"We hate you," the sisters grumbled, turning their heads up in almost the exact same way.

Betty smiled because of her victory. She then turned to Vivian and gave her a deep kiss. She could taste the wine lining Vivian's mouth and she did wonder how her little vixen was still capable of remaining up. Usually, Ron would have outlasted Vivian since he was more of a drinker than she was, but with all of the food that he ate, it was amazing that he lasted as long as he did. Vivian did not last much longer; she was out within a minute after the kiss was done.

Shego, Betty, and Kim pressed on, even with their lovers sleeping at their sides. They doubted that it would sit well with all of the members of the army for the top officers to leave before anyone else. Only when the sun rose as a signal that they had been going on for the whole night did people began to file out of the room.

"No more of these," Betty begged while trying her best to stay awake. She could already imagine the hangover that she was going to have. Her head hurt just thinking about it.

"We've got to keep everyone high in spirits for when the spring comes," Shego replied. She already knew that she was going to be sleeping for the whole day, feeling the wine's affects just as much as her lead general was.

"I need the spring to get here already. These hangovers are killing me," Kim complained. She did not even want to think about the headaches that she and Ron were going to have soon.

The drinking was fun and all, but they all really just wanted to get back out on campaign. They wished that more of the army was more like them because then they would not come back to the capital every winter. They would instead just keep marching until the whole world was under Shego's control…although Kim never thought that far because if she did, she would realize that as soon as Shego's dream was achieved, she would have little do with her time. Sure, she would still be able to serve her adopted sister, but she would not have as many opportunities to do all of the crazy things that she enjoyed.

The trio all collected their significant others, Shego having the easiest time of it, and they parted ways, all retreating to the comfort of their palace apartments. Shego was happy to hit her bed, smiling all the way down. She curled up with Bonnie, who was slightly awake for a moment because of the change in locations. The princess rested her head on Shego's shoulder and fell back to sleep. The Queen was sleeping seconds later.

--(New day)

Shego and Bonnie decided to stay curled up in bed together on a particularly cold day. There was a chilling wind whining outside, whipping through some of the halls of the palace. The wail could be heard sometimes, but the couple ignored it.

They were not doing much together while staying in the bed. Shego had gotten some documents that she needed to look over for when the spring came. Bonnie was taking in some of the Goh culture through the literature, which had been recommended to her by Tara. Despite the fact that they were both into their own works, they were close to each other under the heavy blanket. They could feel each other's skin; Bonnie was able to gather welcomed warmth from Shego's near presence.

There was also tea brought in to help keep the pair warm. The servants set the tray up, making sure that it was sturdy while being on the bed. Bonnie reached for a full cup and sipped it, careful because she could still see the steam rising off of it. When the liquid touched her lips, she noted that it was delicious and something that she never had before.

"What is this?" Bonnie asked curiously, breaking the content silence of the chamber.

Shego did not bother to look up from her work. "Tea," she answered automatically.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I know it is tea. What kind though? I've never had it before," she said.

"I'm sure you haven't. It's grown back east. Don't drink it all if you like it."

Bonnie made a playful, but mocking face and turned her attention back to her tea. She drank her cup quickly and then set her sights on Shego's untouched cup. She glanced over at the Queen, who was scratching the bridge of her nose while reading over a new scroll. Bonnie wasted no time starting in on Shego's tea.

The pale woman reached for her cup a few minutes later. She was stunned to find it empty and turned her attention to Bonnie. The western princess by that time was back to reading, but there was a small, satisfied smile on her face. She was trying to look angelic, but she looked more like a proud demon.

"Kitten, what did I say?" Shego inquired with a fake growl, acting like she was angry.

"I don't know. You say a lot of things. I mostly tune you out now," Bonnie remarked, her smile spreading a bit. Her expression seemed to give Shego's nicknames for the younger woman some credit.

"I'll be sure to remember that later on when you're asking me for things, like not to stop," the raven-haired woman remarked with a fiendish expression of her own.

Bonnie turned to look at Shego now because she thought that the Queen might be serious. Her smile faded when she saw the look on Shego's face. Her expression dropped when Shego's expression stayed the same after a couple of seconds.

"You wouldn't…" Bonnie said, trying to sound like her usual self, but coming across a bit worried thanks to her expression.

Shego's lips curled up into a devilish smile. It was not that she liked tormenting Bonnie, although the teasing was always a plus. She liked to know that Bonnie viewed it as a punishment to be without her touch.

"Maybe I would. I am evil, after all," the green-skinned warrior remarked arrogantly.

Bonnie frowned deeply for a moment and then thought of the perfect counter. "Well then, maybe I'll just spend more time with Tara then."

Shego flinched ever so slightly to that verbal strike. Okay, that was not funny, she commented mentally. She frowned, but decided that she was not going to give up.

"Feel free, you'll still come back begging for me later on," the older female stated quite confidently.

Bonnie scoffed, but she did not say anything further. The pair sat there, rigid and silently fuming for more time than they liked. They attempted to focus on their work, but they both kept fighting the urge to glance at each other. They both turned to look directly at each other at the same time.

"I just realized something," Shego said in neutral tone.

"What's that?" Bonnie inquired in her own disinterested voice.

"I hate you," Shego replied, almost as if she was serious.

"Well, I can't stand you either," the tanned young woman retorted.

Shego nodded, as if that made sense. She then quickly leaned over and placed a heated kiss on Bonnie's mouth. The princess wasted no time in returning the embrace. They felt like they could melt into each other. They leaned over to deepen the kiss and the intense feeling grew between them. It was such a delightfully, blazing hot kiss now that they did want to pull away, but they required air.

The green-skinned woman caught her breath first, as usual. She ran her fingers down Bonnie's arm and watched as goose bumps rose in a trail following her wandering fingers. Bonnie shivered from the contact.

"I think someone's cold," Shego commented, a half-smirk gracing her oval face.

"Maybe someone will warm the other up," Bonnie remarked, eyes half-lidded and a bit of a smirk of her own.

Shego smirked wider and disregarded her work for the moment. Bonnie abandoned her literature as Shego went about warming her up. They spent the rest of the day keeping warm. Work was left for the next day.

--(New day)

"I hate the winter," Shego complained with a groan while flopping down on her throne. Usually, she did not mind lying around when she could, but it was maddening to have nothing to do at all.

Bonnie was with the Queen, sitting on her side. She glanced over at the bored monarch, but did not offer any relief to the boredom. She was learning from others around her that Shego was just going to stir crazy and there was not much anyone could do about it. Bonnie did not totally agree with that as she had found ways of relieving Shego's boredom, beyond rolling around in the bed. They talked quite often, but at the moment, Bonnie was lacking in conversation.

"Want me to show you some of my moves?" Bonnie proposed out of the blue. Hey, it was something to do and she would not mind getting her lover's opinion on her dancing, especially since she knew that Shego did not mind that she did dance.

"All right, let me see what you've got," Shego replied with a nonchalant shrug, although there was a spark in her emerald eyes that said she was very interested in seeing the foreigner's moves.

The princess stood up while Shego adjusted herself on her seat. Bonnie hopped off of the throne and did some stretching while Shego let herself lay on her stomach and faced the younger woman. Bonnie was about to start, but she realized that she was wearing too many layers of clothing to do anything proper.

"This might be a really short show," Bonnie remarked as she unbuttoned her top shirt; she was wearing Goh Empire garments.

"If you keep going, I'll make sure it's longer," Shego quipped with a lecherous smirk.

"Dirty barbarian," Bonnie teased with a smirk of her own.

Shego chuckled a bit while moving to rest her chin in her hands as Bonnie continued slipping out of her layers of clothes. The throne room was heated from fires around, but it was still chilly thanks to the season, so Bonnie was able to get out of enough clothing to where she would be able to move gracefully in the private show that she was going to give. Once again, she mentally praised the Goh's "heat armor" clothing.

Bonnie a bit eager to get to it because she wanted the opinion of someone that she knew as far as her performance went. She knew that when she went out with Tara and they played around in shows, the audience loved them. Tara also sang her praises, but she was slightly shaky on believing Tara because she noticed that Tara did not have a mean bone in her body. She wanted the opinion of someone that would tell the truth.

"Take it off!" Shego cheered, a teasing grin on her face. She then had the nerve to let out a loud whistle.

"Shut up, up there!" Bonnie pretended to bark.

Shego laughed, enjoying Bonnie's attitude as usual. The tanned young woman was ready after getting out of most of her clothes. She then started on with her routine, capturing the Queen's attention immediately. Watching Bonnie move around almost instantly made her think of Tara and Kim. There seemed to be something similar from the way that they all moved, which might come from the fact that they all had almost the same body type.

"I wonder if I could get her to run around with Kim on the battlefield and do some infiltration work for me," Shego thought, more joking than anything else.

The green-skinned woman then stopped thinking what she knew to be ridiculous thoughts as Bonnie went on, flipping around the room. Shego bet the routine would be better if there was music playing. She did not feel like calling for any musicians because she thought that it might interrupt the show that she was almost hypnotized by.

Bonnie smirked mentally as she moved because she liked that Shego's emerald eyes were locked on her. She was pleased with the fact that she had her lover pretty much enchanted. Shego seemed like she could watch Bonnie all day and she really could have. Bonnie probably would have moved for her all day too. Unfortunately, the fates were against them.

"Hey, sis," Mego called as he entered the throne room with his usual entourage of twenty servants, interrupting the pair.

Bonnie frowned and stopped moving instantly. She frowned at the sight of the egotistical king, glaring at him with some anger and annoyance in her aqua eyes. Shego was not feeling much better with the appearance of her younger brother. She sighed, sounding as irked as Bonnie looked. She sat up and turned her attention to her brother, knowing it would be the fastest way to get him out of the throne room.

"What's going on around here?" Mego asked when he noticed the clothes on the floor. He looked at the clothing for a while and then turned his attention to his sister.

"None of your business," Bonnie snapped sharply, like the jaws of a crocodile.

The princess did not bother with collecting her garments. She walked back over to the throne and curled up next to Shego for warmth. The Queen put her arms around Bonnie to make sure that the younger woman was not cold.

Mego glared at Bonnie. "You can't talk to me that way," he huffed. Foreign wench, he thought with a frown. He thought that the girl was overstepping her bounds just because she seemed to be his sister's favorite toy now. He figured that Shego would put her in her place soon enough; he was about to be in for a surprise.

"What do you want, Mego?" Shego inquired, her lip curled up in some fury with his presence. She really just wanted to keep watching Bonnie go.

Mego's face scratched up for a moment as if he was offended with his sister's question. He was silent for a moment, glaring daggers back at Bonnie. He then turned his attention back to Shego.

"Come play chess," Mego requested/demanded. He wanted to beat Shego in one game before he went back to his kingdom. He needed to show her that he was just as good at planning out battles and thinking ahead as she was. He figured that it was a good step into gaining her respect, showing her that he could be a good commander.

Shego did not answer right away. She glanced down at Bonnie, who was just having a glaring contest with Mego now. She supposed that they could all have some fun with Mego since he probably was not going to go away, no matter how mean she was to him. She would get Bonnie to dance for her again later on.

"Come on, hellcat. Let's go kick my brother's ass in some chess," Shego suggested with nudging Bonnie slightly.

"Hey, I didn't invite her," Mego said in a snippy tone while turning his nose up in the air.

"I don't care. I'm inviting her. So, unless you want to play by yourself, you'll stop whining and take this ass-kicking and like it," Shego declared with a smug look on her face.

Bonnie smirked at Mego and then blew a kiss at him. The mauve-hued king grumbled and frowned, folding his arms over his chest in a huff. Shego stood up and pulled Bonnie up with her.

"Come on, kitten. Let's go make my brother cry," Shego commented with a smile and she placed a small peck to her lover's tanned cheek.

Bonnie just smiled wickedly, obviously wanting to make Mego cry. He had been nothing but rude to her when she was around him and she could not stand him because of that. She also disliked how he clung to his sister, mostly because she wanted Shego's attention now.

Mego was not too fond of Bonnie either. He felt like she was acting higher than her position, even if she was a princess. She was not a princess in their lands. She was just some barbarian hostage; a nobody in his opinion. She was definitely not some person that should be getting his big sister's attention, he thought.

They all retreated to a smaller room where the chess game was already set up. Shego and Bonnie sat down on the emerald green pillow that was always reserved for the Queen. Mego sat down on his own pillow. There were snacks and drinks set up over a long grill to keep everything warm. The game began and within a few moves, Mego was stumped.

The purple-skinned king frowned while eyeing the chessboard. He could not believe that his sister had halted his advance so easily. He looked long and hard, trying to find a safe move.

"Damn it, I can't let her beat me this easily," Mego silently huffed. How the hell was he supposed to get her respect if he could not even win a chess game against her?! He was breaking out into a sweat because he could not figure out where to move.

While waiting for Mego to move, Bonnie cuddled up to Shego more, seeking her body heat and affection. Shego silently got up for a moment, which caused Bonnie to whine slightly. Mego looked at his sister, wondering if she was going somewhere when they were in the middle of a game. Shego only moved directly behind Bonnie and then she wrapped her lover in the robe that she was wearing. Bonnie purred when she was against Shego, who rested her chin on Bonnie's shoulder.

Shego was now more focused on being close to Bonnie than focusing on the game. She started letting Bonnie move pieces while she busied herself with kissing Bonnie's throat. Mego probably would have won a game if only he was not more focused on the fact that his sister was acting weird than on the game.

"The hell is wrong with her?" the king asked himself, referring to his sister.

Having spent a lot of time with Shego in his life since he came of age, Mego was pretty sure that he had never seen his older sister act the way that she was acting with Bonnie. He had never seen her cuddle someone or kiss a lover in a gentle manner as she was doing now. It looked like Shego was having an innocent sort of fun with Bonnie, almost like she was in love, he thought.

Mego shook that thought away, believing it to be quite silly. His sister was not in love. She did not seem able to be "in love" with a person. She could be in love with an idea, with her dream, but not a person. Shego lived for her ambition. She wanted to rule the world and that was the only thing that her heart could hold.

"Checkmate," Bonnie commented, throwing off Mego's thoughts.

"What!" the king shouted in a fury while gawking down at the board.

"The kitten's got some sharp kitty claws," Shego remarked with a proud smirk on her face while pulling Bonnie just a bit closer to her. The princess smiled for several reasons; she got to beat Mego, Shego was holding her close, and she was getting acknowledgment for doing something well.

"Play again," Mego ordered in a huff as he frowned and pointed down to the board.

Bonnie shrugged and they started setting up the board again while Shego was quite content to stay where she was. The pale woman did watch the game every now and then since her brother seemed to be playing seriously. She offered some help to Bonnie because she would rather her lover beat her brother again. It turned out to be a fun day, especially since Mego left the room quite the disgruntled look on his face after throwing several tantrums while losing games to Bonnie.

* * *

Next time: more talks of Shego being in love and Middleton officials come to settle their debt. What's to become of Bonnie then?


	16. In play

I don't own these characters.

16: In play

Shego and Bonnie were curled up together, sharing a very peaceful sleep in the Queen's bed. Bonnie was resting mostly on Shego with her head tucked underneath the older woman's chin. Under the covers, white-greenish arms were wrapped protectively around a slender, healthy tan body. Legs were interlocked with each other while there was skin on skin contact in several other key places. Every now and then, some bit would move, rub against another bit, causing a moment of shivers that had nothing to do with the cold weather outside.

Shego woke up first, as she had a habit of doing. She yawned a bit and cast her eyes down at her lover, as she was making it a habit of doing. She smiled softly to herself, rather unaware of the expression. She did not pay much attention to the warm feeling that always spread through her like some thick liquid building in her body when resting her emerald eyes on Bonnie. She just blamed that feeling on her hot body temperature, trying to compensate for the frosty winter air and keep her as hot as always.

"My little hellcat," Shego whispered with a loving smile as she caressed the princess' back because her hand was lying there. Her fingertips would have jumped for joy if they could just from touching the smooth flesh of her lover.

Bonnie purred in her sleep from the gentle attention. She pressed herself into the Queen and tightened her grip on Shego, pulling herself closer to warrior. She had her arms around Shego's neck, sort of clinging to the pale woman, which did not bother Shego.

Shego did not think about it, too wrapped up in being with Bonnie it seemed, but she had never behaved in such a way with a lover before. There were whispers about the way that she acted with Bonnie echoing through the halls of the palace. Servants, court members, and even her friends had some words to say about Shego's relationship with Bonnie. The words had not reached Shego's ears yet, and that was mostly chalked up to the fact that Shego was enthralled with being with the western princess.

* * *

"You know, Shego, I think you're in love," Betty commented, almost as if it was a normal thing to say. They were sitting in a small room with scrolls all about. They were parked at a low table, which was littered with documents.

Shego's face scrunched up in to a confused look. "In love?" she asked as if she did not know what that was. It was a foreign concept to her in her opinion, especially with the way that her general meant it.

"Yes, in love," Betty repeated, once again sounding like it was a normal thing to say. She had never thought that she would say such a thing to the Queen though, so it was not normal at all.

Shego scoffed and turned her nose up to her general for a moment. "With who?"

"You know who. I've seen you with lovers and things and this is something totally different from how you were with them. I've also seen you in love and it seems like that," the one-eyed woman explained while leaning forward, resting her elbows on the table and also on a document. The challenge was on.

"You've seen me in love?" Shego's mouth immediately curled upward because of her skepticism. She rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Yes, I've seen you in love. What are you, losing your hearing as well as your senses?" the older woman teased. A small, amused smile played on her lips because she felt like she had the argument in the bag. To her, and a lot of other people, there was no disputing what the Queen was.

"You're talking crazy," Shego dismissed her general with a wave of her hand. She then turned away as if she was bored. She looked down at the document in front of her, as if that was going to shut Betty up.

"You've been in love before, idiot. You've been in love for as long as I've known you," Betty said and her tone changed from taunting to serious. Her voice was a normal volume, but she seemed a bit subdued. She seemed almost nostalgic, her body relaxed more and her eye seemed as close to gentle as it ever was going to get with someone who was not Vivian. "It wasn't with a person, mind you. I've never seen you in love with a person. It was a notion more than anything else," she explained, still a bit laidback.

"A notion? You mean like one day I'll be ruling the world," Shego commented. That was the only thing that made sense to her and she would not even admit to being in love with that notion, though it was her life long dream.

"No, I don't even think it was that notion. It's just that when we're out in the field and you're at the head of the army, charging us up to take on our enemies or to take down a wall, and that's when you can see it. There's a look in your eyes that is love. It's not that it's love for the battle pending or anything like that. I really don't know what it is, what the notion is. I just know it's something you're in love with."

Shego did not say anything or even move to show that she understood. She never really thought that she was ever in love with anything at anytime. She still did not think that she was in love with any notion or anything else. She did not think about love at all really.

To the pale woman, love was a taboo region. It was not that there was no love in her life or that she would deny that there was love in her life. She just liked to believe that she was incapable of loving anyone or anything.

The thought of love to her suggested weakness. Not weakness of character per se, as she would concede that her father was head-over-heels in love with her mother and he was the most powerful man that she ever knew. Love suggested that there was something that could be used against her, though.

For Shego, she knew that if she took Vivian from Betty, it would put Betty under her complete control. Betty's love for Vivian would make her a puppet…or so was the chance again. Shego would yield that it was possible that Betty might just go insane and destroy any and everyone in her path to get Vivian back. The same could be said of her late father or her mother depending on the situation. Also, the same could be said of her adopted sister. But, there was also still the chance that they would become puppets to keep their loves safe. Shego would never want such a chance to be in her cards.

"I think you just need both your eyes back," Shego remarked with a teasing half-smirk. She tried to turn her attention back to the documents to signal that the conversation was over, but Betty was not ready to let go.

"Well, I'll remember to put that on the Empire's bill I'll be sending you when I retire. Payback for all my pain and suffering," Betty quipped, a smile working its way to her mouth now.

The warrior monarch wasted no time scoffing that off. "The Empire gave you Vivian. You owe us if anything." She pointed to the general and then to herself.

Betty craned an eyebrow and sucked her teeth. Fine, maybe she did owe the Empire for Vivian, she thought. Okay, it was time to turn the conversation back onto Shego since she did not have a comeback.

"I gave you that little Westerner and you're so in love with her it makes your eyes sparkle," Betty commented with a smirk. She thought that "sparkle" part put her words over the top and she had to see how the Queen would counter it.

Shego snorted. "Bah." She looked off to the side, as if that made the conversation end.

"Now you sound like a sheep. Don't make me go down the list." Betty decided to keep the challenge up a notch. She was seriously prepared to go down a list of why she knew the pale woman was in love with that noisy little Westerner.

The Queen rolled her eyes and dismissed Betty's words with a slight wave of her hand. She pretty much just dared Betty, who was not going to back down. She did have a list, after all. Later on, Shego was going to be damning Betty's administrative nature and love of useless facts.

"Let's see what sets the Westerner apart from any other lover you've ever had. You let her hang around you almost like you do Kim, like you're attached to her," Betty started and she was already interrupted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it right there. First of all, I'm not attached to anyone, not my hellcat and not Kimmie," Shego argued strongly with a spark in her eyes. It was a lying spark in her friend's opinion.

Betty rolled her onyx eye and came in for her counterattack to that statement. "Yeah, you're not attached to anyone. Remember two summers ago when Kim vaulted that wall?"

Shego frowned deeply. "Showing concern is not showing attachment," she stated bluntly.

Betty was referring to a battle that seemed so long ago, but still so very close, when Kim had let her enthusiasm and natural competitive streak steer her wrong. She overzealously went over a city wall before the rest of the assaulters were in position to go. It ended up being a comical scene instead of serious because Kim was not terribly injured and it was one of the few times that Shego and Ron had had the same exact reaction. They both panicked and took over the wall after Kim without either one thinking about it. Luckily, they had not been hurt either, suffering a few scratches and Ron sprained his ankle from landing wrong. They also took the city, so everything turned out fine. The point of the matter was that Shego's senses abandoned her when it came to her adopted little sister because she knew that she could not stand to be without Kim, just like Ron.

"Okay, fine, let's not go down that avenue then. Let's talk about how you cuddle Bonnie at all the gatherings. It's like you need her close to you if she's around. There has to be body contact, which is something that I know very well," Betty pointed out. After all, if Vivian was around, her arms seemed to automatically go out for the blonde.

Shego made a noise; something between a snort and a cough. So what if she liked to cuddle Bonnie? The little princess practically begged for it being so soft and smooth to the touch, her mind pointed out. The delightful way that she purred when she was embraced and caressed was like a call to touch Bonnie. She merely answered the siren's call. It had nothing to do with some deep emotion, just a base one of physical desire.

"Going better into the cuddling, which is something you've never done with a lover in the past, especially at a big gathering. You kiss Bonnie whenever you get a chance, whether it's one the lips or not, you do. You pet her a lot in plain view. These are things I've never seen you do with a lover. Now, you've often given lovers leeway and let them act however they want before they bore you, but you've never given them run over the treasury like you've given Bonnie. I know she went out with Tara when the weather wasn't bone-chilling and she'd spend right up there or even over Tara. If someone else, a lover or not, did that without asking you, you've fired them as soon as you got the news, and I mean that literally. You even let her talk to you anyway she wants and you never really get upset with what she says, even when it's way out of line," Betty continued on.

Shego shrugged and scoffed before countered that. "Hey, I like her spirit, what can I say?"

"Fine, let's go on. You don't know it since you can't see yourself, but there's a way you look at Bonnie that's nothing like you've ever looked at a lover." That was one of the biggest factors in knowing that Shego was in love, the strange look that washed over her emerald eyes whenever Bonnie was in her sights.

The Queen shrugged again. "So, probably just something in my eye."

Betty scoffed. "Yeah, a twinkle. There's a gentleness to you too when you're around her, but I'm sure you're not going to buy that one."

"Nope." Shego shook her head.

"Fine. How many lovers have you let share your bed this many nights in a row?" the one-eyed woman inquired smugly; she had thought that her victory was guaranteed.

Shego opened her mouth to counter her friend since she was on such a roll, but she found herself speechless for a moment longer than anyone would believe. For once, the woman that always had a comeback lacked anything at all to say. Her finger was up and her mouth was open as if she was going to say something, but nothing was coming out.

The pale woman had to think about it now. Hmm, how many lovers had she allowed to be in her bed as long as Bonnie? Not many, if any. Eventually, she needed her space back and would dismiss her lover, at least for a few days. After all, she did not need sex every night…well, not until Bonnie came along anyway. But, even if she and Bonnie did not have sex every night, she would want Bonnie sleeping next to her. But, her mind asked the critical question that would kick-start the smartass region of her brain again: so what? That did not prove anything.

"So, I like fucking her, no crime in that," Shego said with a shrug. She added a scoff to make sure to downplay everything that the general just stated.

Betty sighed and shook her head. "Your denial in this is only hurting you and your little hellcat," she pointed out.

"What? You think she loves me and even if she does, that's her problem, not mine," the green-skinned monarch commented nonchalantly.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that. It's not going to help," the one-eyed woman stated once again.

Shego rolled her eyes, but she shifted ever so slightly in her seat, which did not go by Betty. The conversation seemed to have made the Queen rather uncomfortable, even if she was trying to hide it. Betty did not say anything on that matter and figured that Shego needed to come to grips with what was happening to her internally, lest it cost them all. After all, their campaign's beginning was not too far away now and they did need the Queen to be at the top of her game.

"Let's go back to surveying the maps of the border territory," Shego suggested, having had her fill of all that nonsense. Well, she wanted to believe that it was nonsense. She did shift one more time in her seat.

"There are a lot of wide rivers," Betty commented while looking down at one of the maps to her left.

"Well, if the scout is accurate anyway," the Queen grumbled. Apparently she was in a sour mood now.

The general looked down right insulted for a moment. "My scouts are always accurate. Let's just hope your shipwrights are worth their weight," Betty countered in a rather arrogant tone.

"They are worth more than those rinkie-dink fishing boats you used to live on," Shego said with a sinister smirk. Payback was sweet.

Betty frowned; she was not very much in favor of her company anymore. She supposed that she brought it on herself since she started the unsavory discussion that brought Shego's mood down, but she felt like it needed to be said. It was not like she could trust Shego to come to a deep emotional understanding on her own and the faster that Shego realized what was happening to her, the better. She was not in favor of their ruler walking around in denial over something that was important as it could blow up in Shego's face, which would be bad for the entire kingdom since Shego was in charge.

"Shego, remember, one of the reasons you keep me around here is because I'll tell you things others won't, especially the things that you don't want to hear," Betty reminded the Queen, hoping to stop the bitchiness directed toward her.

"Then tell me we've got enough forces to hit two places at once," the green-skinned woman said, keeping the topic on battle and out of her personal life.

Betty sighed. "Fine." It was back to business as usual and Shego put what she considered to be rubbish out of her mind.

--(New day)

Shego was sitting on her throne, fidgeting a bit every few minutes. She was once again going through documents because the winter was going to be over soon. She was getting ready for the march back into the west. She was starting to grow anxious about it, which was a feeling that Betty and Kim could understand since they were ready to go back out on campaign now. Her work was interrupted as a servant announced that she had visitors, dignitaries from Middleton.

"What?" Shego muttered in a puzzled tone. She certainly had not been expecting them. How rude for them not to send word, she thought.

The servant could not explain the sudden presence of the foreigners. All he could offer was that they claimed to be coming to settle a deal. Shego nodded, understanding that bit. She did not see why she had not been informed that they would be coming, though. After all, they could have been killed on route to her palace while they were in her kingdom and that would have been on her. Next thing she knew, the West could have had a reason to be knocking on her door and she did not want any blood shed on her land, even though she was certain that she would overwhelm them for walking into the lion's den.

"All right, bring these chumps in," the Queen ordered gruffly.

The servant bowed and trotted out to meet with the people from Middleton. Shego shifted on her downy seat. She had actually forgotten all about her deal with Middleton. Her jaw tensed and she could not figure out what to do with her hands suddenly. She kept rubbing her chin with her index finger. She was not looking forward to hearing that they had her gold, even though the money was going to finance her march into the West. The incoming money was a tradeoff, though.

Shego did not think about what would happen if she was going to get her money. She would rather be skeptical that they even had her money. They were probably coming to plead with her to give them more time. Yeah, that was probably it, she thought.

The Queen sat up and put her documents down to give the entering diplomats her full attention for the moment. They came in, a pair of men dressed in their western garments of tunics, despite the coldness of the winter. They stopped where a servant told them to, which was three yards from Shego. The amount of space was a custom of the Goh Empire for strangers and any others not granted special privileges. Shego eyed her uninvited guests with a frown as they just stood there.

"So—" one of the men started.

Shego held up her hand to shut him up. She turned her head up, showing that they did not have her attention anymore. The servant that escorted them in shook his head in disgust. He looked at the guests with a snarl on his lip.

"Bow to her," the servant commanded with a growl.

"Bow?" the two echoed as if they did not know what the servant was talking about.

"Bow," the servant repeated in a forceful tone. How dare those barbarians walk into the damn palace and act as if they were on the same level as their Queen? The nerve of them!

The two men looked at each other with horror in the grazes. Bow to a barbarian ruler, they seemed to telepathically ask each other. The very idea made them want to throw up, but they supposed that for the moment they needed to appease her. After all, Middleton was not yet ready to stand against the savage might of the Goh Empire.

They took deep breaths and bent their backs to a woman they believed was a demon sent to Earth. The servant stepped away from them and Shego turned her attention back to them now that they were showing her proper respect. They rose from their positions and Shego motioned for them with a sweep of her hand to state their business.

"We're here to report that we have your gold. It's being brought up right now. You can have people verify it," the first man stated in business-like tone.

Shego nodded. She flicked her hand toward some servants on her left and they trotted off to go check on the gold. She kept her face stoic, even though she was surprised that they had her tribute. The surprise was not a pleasant one. They had her gold, so they were going to want their princess back.

The hall was quiet for a few minutes. The foreigners were not sure what to do in that time, but they made sure to keep silent and still. No one would be able to help them if they offended Shego, after all. The green-skinned warrior leaned forward on, resting her elbow on the table in front of her. She put her chin in her hand and waited for the servants to return. They all came back and nodded, telling the Queen that the gold was coming.

"There you go," one of the diplomats said, as if that was supposed to conclude their business altogether.

"Yeah, I guess," Shego said in a dismissive, almost disinterested tone. She looked away, biting her thumb nail for a moment.

"Then our business is done for the year and we're allies of the Goh Empire?" he asked to be sure.

"Yeah, whatever," she grumbled, seemingly very unhappy for some reason. The men turned to leave and she suddenly stopped them. "Hold on," she said, turning her attention back to them in a slow, methodical manner.

"Yes?" they both asked as they turned around; their voices trembled ever-so slightly. They were nervous on the inside, but they kept hard appearances on the outside.

"I don't want your gold," Shego stated, seemingly out of the blue. Her words were hard and deliberate; her eyes mirrored that. She leaned forward, almost as if she would jump over the table and attack them if they disagreed with her.

The two men were puzzled and rather frightened. They could not figure out what she meant or why she had changed her demeanor. They looked at each other, hoping the other had some answer. Was she saying that she was going to sack Middleton instead? What would happen to them then? They did not know, but they could guess that it would not be something they liked.

"Excuse us…?" they said in shaking tones. They did not know it, but they were shivering a bit and it was not because of the cold.

"I don't want your gold," she repeated, even more deliberate than before. She then flexed her fingers, cracking her knuckles in a menacing fashion. The two diplomats gulped and they each took a step back.

"Then what do you want?" one of the men managed inquire. His voice was smaller than he meant it to be and he hardly recognized that he was speaking.

"I have everything I want," she informed them with a bored wave of her hand. Despite the wave, her voice was still firm and almost cold.

"But, we have a deal," the man argued.

"So?" Shego replied with a roll of her eyes. Typically, she kept her deals, especially when they were written down. Her father taught her to honor her word, but then again, both of her parents taught her to take what she wanted. She already had what she wanted.

"We already struck a deal," he stated forcefully. They could not go back to Middleton with deal broken. It would not sit well with the Governor and they were not looking to deal with him, especially if he was upset.

"I don't care. Deal done. Take the gold back," Shego said in a dismissive tone, turning away from them again as if she was sick of them.

"We can't take the gold back. You're keeping the gold and we're taking back the princess," he informed her.

Shego growled while flexing her claw. "I'm not taking the gold and you're not taking the princess."

The pair flinched and one of them did hate to admit the truth. "It's too late."

"Too late? What do you mean?" Shego demanded to know with a scowl painting her pale face. Her pulse was starting to speed up and her heart pounded so hard, the noise hurt her ears.

"We're collecting the princess."

Shego snorted and her eyes squinted as a charge of anger ran through her. She was tempted to leap over her table and just tear the visitors apart. The only thing keeping her in her seat was the fact that she did not want to bring a war into her country.

The Queen turned to a couple of her servants with such speed that it would not have surprised anyone if she broke her neck. "Where's Bonnie?" she demanded to know in a roar.

"With the general's niece," a girl replied rapidly. She meant Betty when saying "the general," so she was referring to Tara.

"Go get them now!" Shego ordered, throwing her arm out violently to point out of the throne room.

The servant ran off to follow the Queen's commands. Shego turned her attention back to the foreigners in front of her. She glared at them in a way that made them take another step back. They felt the need to point out that the Governor was expecting back soon. Shego did not care about that and let them know that. She just wanted news on her hellcat.

* * *

Bonnie and Tara were walking through the halls of the palace, laughing as they talked about their day. They were on their way to the baths, just to feel some heat during a rather cold winter. They never made it because they were halted by a group of people. Both ladies appeared confused, but for different reasons.

Tara had never seen the people before, so she wondering why there were suddenly so many strangers in the palace. She never liked running into new people in the palace because she did wonder what they were doing there. She knew that sometimes there were misfits in the palace looking to do wrong and even though she liked to give people the benefit of the doubt that stopped when there were unknowns wondering people's homes.

Bonnie was puzzled because she recognized the people. They were members of her father's inner circle and some servants. She wondered what they were doing there. She about to address them, but one of them spoke before she did.

"Come on, princess. We're here to take you home," one of the men informed Bonnie in a rushed tone while reaching out to grab her.

"What?" Bonnie asked as if she did not understand. She also sidestepped his reach while glaring at him for having the gall to try to touch her.

"Come on. We're in a hurry. We don't want anything to happen, after all." He reached for Bonnie again, but she moved out of the way once more.

"What do you mean?" she now demanded to know. Her face was scrunched up, showing that she was close to being angry.

"Come on, we have to get you home. Let's go," he said, grabbing her by the arm now and ushering her to the left.

"Wait, what's going on?" Bonnie asked in bewildered and also upset tone while her expression was a cross between bemused and angry. She was resisting being tugged, but he was stronger than she was.

"Hey, where are you going with her!" Tara demanded to know as it hit her that those men were taking Bonnie away. She chased after the men, only to be held back by one. "Hey, bring her back!" the blonde cried.

Bonnie's demand to know what was going on was not answered. Tara was held until the others were out of sight. When Tara was released, the blonde tried to go after the men that took Bonnie, but they were gone. She stopped, panting fiercely through a mouth that was turned downward in worry. As far as she knew, her good friend had just been kidnapped. The first thing that came to mind was to tell the Queen. Surely Shego would be able to make everything better, she thought.

Shego was quite curious when Tara charged into the throne, breathing like she had been scared to death by something. It did not help Shego's mood that Tara was alone. When the blonde looked up at the Queen and Shego got a look at Tara's face, her heart sank for a reason that was beyond her.

"They took her!" Tara cried, tears dripping down her eyes. She feared the worst already and she did not even know what was going on.

"Took who?" Shego asked in a dangerous low tone while standing up on her throne. Her eyes narrowed. The blonde better not say who she thought Tara was going to say, her mind commented.

"Bonnie!" Tara screamed as the tears started rolling down her cheeks. "Some men just took Bonnie!"

Shego snarled in an almost beastly manner. She leaped down next to the representatives of Middleton, startling them to the point where they backed up again. They almost fell over each other while trying to get away from her. She drew her flexed hand back, as if she was going to gut them with her talons right then and there. But, her better senses prevailed. She lowered her hand.

"Get out," Shego commanded the foreigners in a forceful growl as she went to Tara. She put a comforting arm around the blonde's slender shoulders.

The Middleton citizens wisely left the Queen's sights without having to be told twice. Shego sighed and cast her gaze to the floor. Bonnie was gone…why did that feel so monstrously wrong to her? Why did the thought of such a thing feel like it was capable of tearing her into tiny pieces smaller enough for ants to devour in seconds? Why did it feel like the world was lost to her just because Bonnie was gone? She tried to shake the feeling and reminded herself just how much gold she had gotten for essentially playing with Bonnie all winter. She forced a smile on her face.

She then reminded herself that it was inevitable and Bonnie was just like her other lovers, after all. She was easily replaceable and not worth the trouble… Yeah, it wasn't a big deal… Somehow though, she believed as much on her own thoughts as much as she hated campaigning.

Bonnie was somber on the trip home, which felt like it took two eternities. She felt worse leaving the Goh Empire than she ever had while being there or even when she had first left home. It felt like the farther she moved from the Empire, the more her insides shattered in on themselves.

She was actually not looking forward to going home, she realized. A sense of anxiety and dread continued to build in her system as she got farther from the East. She swallowed, trying to quash the uncomfortable knot building in her stomach. No such luck. The feeling increased ten-fold when she got home and was taken to her father.

"It's about time you got back," Barkin said in a gruff tone as a greeting to his daughter.

Bonnie was taken back by the dispassionate way that her father spoke to her. It would seem that her time in the Goh Empire had caused her to forget exactly what kind of man he was. It had also gotten her used to being addressed in a different way by people that were supposed to be of a higher rank than she was.

"I've got something new for you to do," Barkin informed his daughter and Bonnie knew that just meant she was about to be used again.

"I'm not acting as your collateral again," Bonnie countered with a huff. She was more than a piece of meat or the pawn on a chessboard for him to use to his heart's content.

"Nothing like that. I've found a man that's willing to marry you," he told her with a big smile.

Bonnie's heart sank from her chest to her feet. The uneasy twisting and tightening in her body got worse, to the point where she felt like she might start trembling. She kept herself together, but a thought did go through her mind. She wanted to be back with Shego now.

* * *

Next time: Bonnie is back in the West and gets to meet her husband-to-be. Will Shego try to get her hellcat back or just be happy with her money?


	17. Can't go home again

I don't own these characters.

17: Can't go home again

Bonnie was shocked…no better yet, Bonnie was appalled. She got home and hardly setting a foot in the place, she learned that she was going to be married. Her father smiled in her face all the while telling her such horrid news. It was almost as if he was proud of himself, she noted.

Bonnie had to resist the urge to punch him his thick jaw; maybe being around the Gohs for the winter had affected her more than she cared to admit. She was slightly disturbed that her father was smiling at her. She could not remember a time when he showed her such an expression without it meaning bad news for her and he certainly had delivered bad news unto her; she doubted that being smote by an angry god right now would be worse than his plan of getting her married off.

She suspected that there was not to things than the fact that her father found someone for her to marry. It had to benefit him in someway. It was the only way to explain his good mood. It was also the only way to explain why he seemed so relaxed, even though it was no secret that the Gohs would be on the march soon and his little piece of land was still one of the first stops when going into the West.

Despite the fact that the Gohs would be coming soon, Bonnie noted that her father actually looked better now than when she left. Stress lines in his face had cleared up. Pride seemed to swell his shoulders more. His chin was titled higher than usual, as if he was looking down on the entire world. He had to have something very devious up his sleeves, she concluded.

"I managed to get a king in a nearby territory agree to marry you," Barkin informed his daughter as they walked through the manor; his sandals clacked on the marble floor while her steps were silent because she was wearing slippers. He looked like quite the confident, happy fellow to someone who just lost out on a lot of money paying tribute to Shego to avoid having her army march in and take over.

Bonnie was having trouble keeping up with her father's gallant steps, especially when he hit her with that bit of news. She almost stopped completely, but managed to remain in stride. She was not sure where the strength came from to keep walking, but she was glad for it.

"A king?" Bonnie echoed as if she did not know what such a thing was. She did not care if a king wanted to marry her. She was not interested in getting married, especially to some man that she never met.

Marriage had always been something in the back of Bonnie's mind. Not because she passed childbearing age years earlier, but because she had seen her sisters leave the house through marriages to better their father's position. She had always known that such a thing would be her fate too. She had little desire to help her father by sacrificing her happiness and life to further his ambitions, which was why she was not interested in getting married. Well, that had been a reason.

The idea of marriage did not bother so much now as she thought about. Sure, the marriage to whomever her father had in mind would probably be the worst thing to happen in her life. But, if she was allowed to choose who the lucky groom would be, she figured that would be different.

If she could chose her own husband, Bonnie figured that he would have qualities that would make her father happy, but would also upset him. She would find a husband that had a high position, of course; she would want a husband that was way more powerful than her father both politically and physically. That way, her husband would never have to take guff from her father. Someone that complimented her often would be nice; sincerity was a definite plus. Her husband would have money that she would be allowed to spend freely and her husband would cater to her every whim. That was just the tip of the iceberg with her.

"Yes, a king. The best part is he's agreed to form an alliance with us for when we go against the Gohs," Barkin explained, still beaming with pride. He had beaten the Gohs in his opinion. He was coming out of things on top, just like things should be in his opinion.

"Against the Gohs?" Bonnie parroted her father once again with a perplexed expression scrunching up her face. She was not following what was going on at all, although she knew that she should have expected as much from her father. "What do you mean against the Gohs? You agreed to pay tribute, so we wouldn't have to worry about the Gohs."

"That barbarian harpy wants too much money. We'd never be able to survive if we kept giving her that much gold and I'll guarantee you the second that we stop paying her, the demon bitch'll be here to tear down our walls, burn the city, and let her men ravage the women while she personally slaughters the babies!" he declared as if it was common sense and then he huffed in anger. He was growing weary of all of the girl's questions. She needed to just do as he said and call it a day before she ended up ruining his good mood. His smile was slowly turning into his typical scowl now.

Bonnie's eye twitched from the confusion. What was her father talking about? Shego would not slaughter babies. She doubted that Shego would just overrun the city the moment that her tribute did not show up. Obviously Shego could be bargained with. She did not think it was in Middleton's best interest for her father to double-cross the Queen, though.

"Dad, you can't double-cross the Gohs," Bonnie argued, balling her hands into tight fists as she spoke.

The Governor was taken back for a moment. He could not recall the last time one of his daughters opposed his decision or had the nerve to second-guess him; although he was willing to bet that the last one that did it was Connie. His smile was now completely a scowl, showing that he was sick of his child's company.

"It's the only way we'll survive those barbarians. They don't care about anything but conquering the whole world! So, I'm going on as planned and you're marrying this guy, so don't even think about arguing!" Barkin shouted in his usual colorful fashion, spitting on her slightly as he spoke. He then marched off before Bonnie could protest.

Bonnie just stood there, in complete and total shock. She was getting married in order for two men, one of them her father, to double-cross Shego? It sounded like utter madness to her ears and apparently her stomach agreed. Bonnie ran off in search of a good place where she could throw up.

* * *

Shego could not sit still. She had been pacing the palace ever since she woke up, which was becoming her routine since Bonnie left. It was horrible for the simple fact that she did not sleep much anymore and the pacing was not helping her mood. She could not sleep at night anymore it seemed without Bonnie in her arms. Whenever she laid down, she only became more upset with the princess' departure because she knew that she was in for another restless night. Walking the palace with no place in mind was only bothering her more because she wanted to be doing something with her life, like getting Bonnie back.

It was impossible to get Shego to sit still, even if someone, usually Betty, managed to get her to stop walking. Her eyes always darted about the room like a suspicious bird. Her talons tapped against the wood of any table near. Her body almost trembled, as if it was begging to get up and move.

"Why do I feel like this?" Shego wondered, furrowing her brow and wrinkling her forehead from confusion.

The lines on her head only gave the bags under her eyes some company. Her hair had gone un-groomed for days now and it was tangled, knotted, and falling wherever it desired. The ebony mane acted as a curtain, hiding the dull look that glazed over emerald eyes that used to be so fiery. Now, the light was out and her eyes only seemed to beg one question: why? She did not want to acknowledge what the "why" was referring to, which were quite a few things.

Her heart clenched her chest, as it had done many times since Bonnie was taken from her. She could not explain why the organ was acting up, but it was not the only part of her body in rebellion. Her guts twisted and untwisted themselves every few minutes, gnawing at her with the worst pain that she could think of. Her stomach refused to hold anything, especially wine, and whenever it was empty, it felt like flies had taken up residence in the space. Her throat periodically went drier than a desert or completely shut, depriving her of air, not that her lungs wanted any at the time. Even her lungs seemed to fail her at times, as if they could not take in enough air or that they wanted more than she would ever be able to breathe.

The pain from it all, the constant, unending agony forced her to at least consider why she was feeling as she was. Bonnie was gone. Bonnie was taken from her. She wanted Bonnie back. Okay, fine, but she could not believe that such a thing was tearing her apart from the inside out.

"How can one girl make me feel ready to fall? I've been through all sorts of trials and feats and yet a woman is what makes me, the demon daughter of Death, crumble?" Shego asked herself, as if she was trying to pick herself back up.

Right then and there, her last body part betrayed her. Her mind told her and answered her question quite soundly, leaving no room to argue or deny anything anymore. "Yes, a woman defeats the Daughter of Death."

Shego collapsed and fell to her knees right there in an empty hall. Bonnie was unlike any other lover that she had ever enjoyed. She did not know what it was, but she connected to Bonnie in a way that she never connected with another person. She liked almost everything about the western princess; there was still a matter of her being a tiny bit closed-minded that bothered Shego, but she was certain that an adventurous woman like Bonnie would be able to work passed that soon enough.

"Is it really…love?" Shego asked herself in disbelief. There was a slight panicked look in her jeweled eyes, but that was quickly devoured by her underlying strength and pride that refused to be pathetic anymore.

She did not have the answer for her question and really she did not need it. The important thing was that she enjoyed being around Bonnie. If that was love, then damn it, she was in love; not that she was going to be saying that bit out loud anytime soon. She needed to get Bonnie back if she ever wanted to feel some semblance of health and joy again.

That thought alone made her body ease into a more normal mood. She was incredulous that such a small thing could make her feel infinitely better. She could only imagine how good things would feel once she held her kitten in her arms again then.

"Whatever it is," she paused, "I'm not giving her up without a fight," the Queen declared in a strong voice and it would seem that pleased her body. She was feeling a bit better, so now it was time to get her hellcat back.

Shego rushed to the throne room and ordered her desk and some paper brought to her. The items were delivered lightning fast; the servants were happy to see the Queen acting like her usual self. They, along with members of the court, had actually been worried about Shego. No one had been sure what was going to become of the administration if Shego gave into melancholy.

Sure, Betty and Kim were able to keep things going, but Shego had a touch within the kingdom that they knew they would never have. She was a god to the people. She gave them strength, hope, and a belief that they had a special, important place in the world. Shego kept the kingdom marching toward what they believed was their destiny. No one else could do that as far as they knew. And to think, a barbarian had the power to bring their god to ruin.

The members of the court, the servants, and just about anyone that knew of the relationship between the Queen and Bonnie were utterly baffled by the hold Bonnie had on their ruler. Jealousy, resentment, and envy sprang up in some people, but they did not get a chance to act on it since not many knew that Bonnie was so special to Shego until she was gone. The few people that did know had little desire to act.

* * *

Betty walked into the throne room and was shocked to see Shego sitting on the throne, working on something as if she was possessed. Betty breathed a sigh of relief, seeing Shego acting closer to normal felt like it lifted tons of weight from her shoulders. After all, the winter was starting to let up. They were about to be marching into enemy territory and Shego was the undisputed leader. It would have been worrisome to say the least to walk into the West with a leader suffering from depression and seemingly unaware of why; well, refusing to acknowledge why.

"What're you working on?" Betty inquired curiously as she approached the throne.

Shego looked up, a surprise expression on her pale face. It seemed that she had been so interested in penning her letter that she did not notice Betty even enter the room. That was a first.

"An alliance contract," the pale woman answered as it registered to her mind that the general had asked a question.

Betty's eyebrows shot up in curiosity for a brief moment. She was now intrigued and wondered whom it was that they were not going to crush. She could guess, but she would rather have it known the first time.

"What are you putting in this alliance contract?" the one-eyed woman asked rather casually, hiding her curiosity in the matter.

"Well, I just figured I'd tell Governor Barkin he could forget the whole tribute thing and we won't come near Middleton…if he gives me back my kitten," Shego explained, pausing in between because she was not sure if she would be able to say that last bit aloud. She had said it though, and said it quite smoothly.

Betty nodded; she knew that it had something to do with Bonnie. She was a bit surprised that Shego would throw away so much money for the princess, but then again, love made people do strange things.

"I'm sure that's favorable terms on his side. He doesn't get to pay a lofty tribute and doesn't have to worry about what our latest siege machine can do to city walls," Betty commented smugly while nodding her head for a moment. "But, we do get screwed in this deal. No gold, no money…" she trailed off with the hope that the Queen would contradict her.

"Blah, blah, blah. I'm throwing shit in here for us too. You can read it over when I'm done," the Queen informed her friend to show that she had not taken total leave of her senses since Bonnie was taken from her.

"You know I am. Next thing I know, your silly ass might trade away the whole fucking kingdom for your little hellcat," the one-eyed woman remarked with a light laugh. Things certainly felt more normal than they had in a while and that was a bit comforting. She was not going to feel totally better until it was clear that the monarch was completely fine.

Shego scoffed, but for the moment with the way that she felt, it was a little plausible that she might part with some of her kingdom for Bonnie. Of course, once she got her kitten, she would forcibly take the land back. As Queen, she was allowed to have her cake and eat it too, after all.

When she was done drafting up her proposal, she flung it at Betty. The one-eyed woman caught the thing. She huffed, upset that Shego had the horrible habit of throwing things at her despite the fact that she was working with only one eye. She started looking over the treaty and nodded.

"Impressive," the general muttered to herself. Who would have thought that the Queen had a working brain when it came to getting her way without having to walk over a pile of bodies, she commented mentally as a joke.

"You like that, huh?" Shego asked with a proud smile on her face.

"And you know, most of the time I actually don't think you're paying attention to shit and here it is you can actually be a leader when given the proper motivation of getting your missing—"

Shego knew the pun was coming, so she cut Betty off. "Don't even say that."

The brown-haired woman chuckled a bit. She was impressed with the document that the Queen managed to pen. It did not have her usual arrogance attached to her negotiations, so it seemed like it should be more palatable for the Governor of Middleton. Surely the man would not mind sending his daughter back; after all, he had easily used her for collateral before. She did not know the Governor of Middleton well.

--(New day)

Barkin openly laughed when he received the communication from Shego. He wasted no time in sharing the letter with those around him at a feast and they all laughed with him. The laughter was long, loud, and full of so much ego that it was shocking that the chuckles did not blow the roof off the estate.

Bonnie was around at the time, sitting off in a corner and looking as miserable as she felt. Her father forced her to come for reasons that he did not disclose. She shut herself off in the corner, wanting to be alone with that churning feeling inside of her whole body. She did not want to think too much about why she felt the way that she did, figuring that she was just going to have to learn to deal with it. She was now home and that was the way things would be until she was forced to go off with her new husband. That thought just made her want to throw up, which was something that she had been doing regularly since she returned to the West.

She had not been paying too much attention to the partygoers until Shego was mentioned. She then listened with an eager ear as to what they were going on about. She learned that Shego was trying to get her back. Her heart was ready to explode in her chest when she heard such news.

"So…she wants me. She still wants me," Bonnie muttered and she had to fight back a smile until she was totally alone.

She retreated to her bedchambers and dismissed any servants that were wandering about the place. Once she was sure that she was by herself, she broke out into a giant grin. She was so pleased to know that Shego wanted her back that she wanted to shout it to the mountains.

"What is this feeling?" Bonnie wondered as she put her hand to her chest and felt her heart beating so rapidly, so fondly. Her whole body felt warm when only moments ago she had been so certain that sludge existed under her skin. Now, it was like delighted clouds floated through her system.

The princess could not figure out why she felt like she was ready to burst just from knowing that Shego was trying to get her back. She wanted to chalk it up to the fact that if Shego was successful, she would not have to get married to some random lord that she never met and she could go back to her friends in the Goh Empire. After all, that was where she made her first true friends. She was almost ready to say that if Shego were successful, it would be like she was able to go back home. Home…

"But, I am home…" Bonnie reminded herself.

She cast her aqua eyes around her room, but did not even take any of the place in. She did not care what the room looked like. It was not her apartments in Shego's palace. It was not Shego's chambers. She desired to be back there now where she felt like she mattered beyond being a tool for her father.

She flopped down on her bed as she began thinking of her time in the East. She curled up with a long pillow that she had. Ever since she got back home, she had been sleeping cuddled up with the pillow, wishing that it was a certain smartass monarch. The pillow was a very poor substitute for that warm, affectionate body, especially since it could not kiss or caress her as she was drifting off to sleep as Shego did.

Beyond Shego, Bonnie missed Tara. She wished that she had a friend to hang around with in Middleton, but that just would never happen. Everyone in Middleton was just nice to her because of who her father was, but Tara was genuinely nice and sweet to her. Tara cared about the things that she had to say and what was on her mind. Tara honestly liked her company, even though she could get a little snippy sometimes. The blonde never held that against her just because Tara was a kindhearted woman, not because she was looking to take advantage of Bonnie's status.

And to Bonnie's surprise, she even missed the Queen's bratty little sister, Kim. The redhead was actually one of the first people of Bonnie's own age to talk to back to her. In Middleton, whenever Bonnie was bitchy toward someone, they just took it because she was the princess. She was able to be nasty toward everyone, not counting her father and older sisters when they were around, but then there was Kim. It was fun getting into it with Kim because she would rise for the argument, but she could not seem to win; that was something similar to when Shego started with Bonnie and how Bonnie could not seem to win.

She wanted to go back, Bonnie realized. She wanted to go back to _those people_. She wanted to live with _the barbarians_. She wanted to stay in the Goh Empire, with the enemy; she wanted to be held and shown affection by the enemy. By the enemy that was not only a barbarian, but also a woman.

"What's happened to me?" the tanned princess wondered while rubbing her face with one hand.

She turned in her bed, taking her pillow with her. One winter with barbarians and she was suddenly one of them? It did not make any sense to her. She was not sure how she felt about it. It seemed like she should be ashamed of even thinking that she wanted to be with the Gohs instead of her own people, but another part of her longed for the wonderful feeling that she got while she was in the Empire.

Bonnie was torn. What was she supposed to want? What was she supposed to do? She hoped that her father just gave her back to Shego and that way she could avoid having to answer those questions. She would simply be able to serve her home and be in the place that she wanted.

"Come on, Dad, just do this one thing for me," Bonnie desperately begged the air. Little did she know, but her father was going to do the exact opposite of what she wanted; it seemed to be a tread with him.

* * *

"What the hell!" Shego hollered in a rage while throwing a scroll all the way across the throne room. "This fucker declined!" she roared loudly while pounding the table in front of her throne. She easily broke the table.

Betty followed the scroll with her eye, turning her head as it flew over. She watched it crash into a lion statue before falling to the floor with a dull thud. She then turned her attention back to the Queen, ignoring the servants that were cleaning up the splintered wood.

"I'm guessing your little lost kitten won't be coming home," Betty commented quite calmly as she approached the throne.

"He claims that he can't give her to me because she's getting married to some northern lord in the West," Shego informed her general with her head and mouth turned up in anger.

Betty nodded and shrugged. "That's some shit for you. So, what will you do now?" she asked curiously. She really wanted to hear the plan there because she suspected that violence was coming next. It was typically the Queen's way to go with the fist when the pen did not work; sometimes, the pen was not even considered. She did not have a problem with that since they were going to be going by Middleton soon enough and every little bit of money and supplies would help in their march.

"What can I do? Counter of course," the Queen answered.

"Counter a marriage with…?" Betty could not figure out what Shego might use to counter aside for the fact that they could pillage and plunder Middleton from a distance considering the fact that they left a good number of equipped and well trained soldiers in the city walls.

"With a marriage of course," Shego replied, almost as if she was calling her friend an idiot for not realizing that.

Betty was struck dumb for a second because of that response. Her mouth was posed to say something, but nothing came out. Her brain was not accepting the information as accurate; it just did not make any sense.

"You're going to propose marriage to a Westerner…a woman Westerner?" Betty asked just to be sure that her mind was getting the right picture.

"Look, if he knows what's good for him, he'll be happy I offered to marry the little hellcat. Surely that would secure his little city that I won't burn it to the ground if he keeps pissing me off," the monarch explained with a bit of a growl. She was upset that bastard Governor had not accepted her other contract. She wanted her hellcat back now!

"Um…Shego, we both know that women marrying other women isn't common in the West like it is here," the one-eyed woman pointed out the obvious.

"It will be soon enough," Shego replied with a confident smirk.

"Are you sure you want to risk this?" Betty asked; there was no apprehension in her voice or anything. She was not opposed to the idea; it just sounded quite strange to her.

"If he doesn't take this line, he's an idiot," the pale woman stated simply with a shrug.

A governor was about to get the chance to give his daughter to a Queen, an Empress soon enough. He would be a fool not to take that in Shego's opinion. It would boast everything in his life beyond anything he could comprehend. All he had to do was give her back Bonnie and his lot in life would improve astronomically.

"Well, I can't call you a liar on that one. Are you sure you want to get married, though?" Betty asked. It was not something that she could imagine the Queen doing, even if Shego was so obviously in love with Bonnie.

"I just want her back and if I have to marry her to get her back, so be it," Shego answered.

Betty shrugged; it was not a bad plan. She figured that if Barkin was a smart man, he would take that deal. It was not a wise move to anger Shego, after all, especially not when the weather was warming up and she had soldiers already in the city walls. One word from Shego and Middleton would be torn apart from the inside and then broken down from the outside.

* * *

Barkin once again had a good laugh at the expense of Shego when he got her second message. He read it aloud when he was done reading it to himself a few times; he was once again at a feast. The people around him chuckled a bit while others made disgusted faces.

"A woman marrying a woman? How absurd!" a random man commented.

"That's it. She's getting out of control," Barkin chuckled while leaning back on his couch. "She figures that making that deal will stop me from giving Bonnie up. She must be scared."

"That's probably it. She knows we've got a powerful ally now," another man stated.

"Soon enough, we'll be sending those damned barbarians back into the gates of Hell in the East," Barkin declared with a powerful laugh, his eyes sparkling.

The Governor obviously believed that he had Shego right where he wanted her. He turned to a special guest that was at his court. They tipped wine cups to each other and downed their drinks before sharing another laugh at Shego's expense.

"When her armies cross into the West this spring, she'll regret it," Barkin proclaimed, earning cheers from everyone gathered in his home. He was having another celebration because of his "special guest."

"Here, here!" many people agreed before downing the drinks in their cups.

Barkin grinned, as if he was sitting on top of the world. He took more wine in as he approached his guest of honor and sat down on a couch next to the lord. They toasted again.

"Here's to the downfall of the East and the rise of the West," the guest said while tilting his cup toward Barkin. He was quite a sinister-looking fellow with dark circles under his eyes, dressed in all black, and seemed to be scowling, even though he was smiling.

"Here, here," the Governor agreed and they drank to that.

Barkin was certain that he would not only be able to repel Shego and kick her forces out of Middleton, but also that he would be able to march into the West thanks to his allies. He had powerful allies thanks to his elder daughters' marriages and he knew that his sons-in-law would be hungry to march with him to extend their land. The guest of honor was just the icing on the cake since he was a mighty ruler to the north with a very powerful army that obeyed his every command.

"Lord Monty, this is going to go down in history as the greatest alliance ever," Barkin said to the lord.

"I'm sure it is," the guest of honor, one Lord Montgomery Fiske, concurred with a wicked smile.

Montgomery Fiske was very much for the alliance, even though he had little desire to get married. He did need allies and it seemed like he picked the perfect one. She seemed to garner a lot of attention from the demon-woman that led the most wicked of the Goh provinces. He was hoping that he could use her later on as a bargaining chip since Shego seemed to want her back enough to propose marriage to her. Yes, he was certain that the alliance would work out just fine. A crooked smile snaked its way onto his face as he sipped his wine.

* * *

"Oh, she's not going to like this," Betty commented as she got an update as to what Barkin was up to.

She frowned a bit; she was actually going to have to tell Shego who Bonnie was being forced to marry. Well, there were certain dangers that came along with her job and she was just going to have to face the one that was thrown at her. She made her way to the throne room, where Shego was dishing out orders because they were finally mobilizing the army since spring was supposed to be in the air. A surprising cold front had come up, but Shego was looking to get all of the soldiers, doctors, engineers, and everyone else that heading west in the mindset that they were moving out soon.

"Um…Shego, you got a response to your proposal," Betty reported.

Shego whipped around from a group of five people to face Betty. She had a small smile on her face and there was a sparkle in her emerald eyes that Betty noticed. Oh, great, now she had to dash the Queen's dreams, she thought grimly.

"Here you go." Betty handed over the report that she got, along with a formal response from Barkin.

Shego practically snatched the documents, showing how eager she was to hear from a man that they were certain was a jerk. She looked down to read what she quickly learned was a denial to her idea. It would seem that Bonnie was going to marry a man from the West with land that was north of Middleton. Then Shego read the report from one of Betty's spies, learning how the two men laughed at her and had drinks over the fact that they were using her hellcat just as a piece of meat to combine their forces, thinking that they would be able to then take her on. The nerve!

"Bastards! I'll kill them both!" Shego hollered with a frown and she shocked everyone around them as she ignited her hands with a green fire that they were aware she could create, but they rarely saw her do it.

Shego's powers flared around her, making her look like the demon everyone swore that she was. Her eyes blazed with hatred as the fire danced around her, backing up everyone else around her. Mego, who was still at his sister's court despite the fact that he did have a kingdom of his own, was the first one to step up.

"Sis, calm down," Mego said as he approached the Queen.

"I will not calm down! I'm going to burn their cities to the ground and take my kitten back! Then I'll salt the fucking ground so that nothing can come from that land again!" Shego shouted furiously, flames still swirling dangerously in her hands.

"You can't just go attack that many border cities at once. You'd stretch your forces too thin," he pointed out.

"I'll take Hego's army if necessary to destroy this bastard to the north!" Shego declared quite seriously.

"Sis, be serious. If anything, he'll sign a treaty with this guy since their land is so close. He's not going to want any part of this war, especially if he finds out it's over a girl," Mego argued.

"It's not just any girl. It's my girl! Fuck this, I'm taking it all! Director," Shego called loudly, as if she did not know the woman was in the same room as she was.

"Yeah?" Betty asked. She was standing damn near twenty feet away. Hey, she knew that things could get very hot when Shego got pissed.

"I want every able soul marching west and I want it happening yesterday! Launch the fucking boats, march the fucking army, send word to the fucking soldiers in Middleton, this shit is on!" Shego proclaimed.

Betty actually smiled. She had never seen Shego so fired up before. She was sure that the emotion rush was going to dwindle once some time went by, but she doubted that the focus or drive was going to die. They were conquering new territory soon; there was no other thought in her mind.

"I'll get the Princess too," Betty remarked, referring to Kim by Shego's nickname.

"Oh, yeah, definitely get Princess," Shego concurred as a twisted smile curled onto her lips. She was certain that Kim and Ron were going to come in very handy for the fiery blitz that she planned on the West. They thought that she was a demon before. Well, they had not seen anything yet.

* * *

Next time: Bonnie goes off with her new husband while Shego's forces set up for an attack, looking to hit two places at once.


	18. Get ready for it

I don't own these characters.

18: Get ready for it

Bonnie's heart was beating so rapidly that she was just waiting for it to explode in her chest. She wished that it would explode to get her out of her current predicament. She was about to meet the man that she was going to marry, as soon as possible worse yet.

Her father had turned down an alliance treaty with the Goh Empire to give her to a powerful lord to the north that was twice her age. She even found out that Shego had tried to get her back by proposing marriage. She knew that her father got a good laugh off of that idea.

She could not believe that Shego had actually offered to marry her to get her back. She had been so flattered when she heard about that; she did not even know how to the react to that news. She felt like she might float off into the sky because of how light the news made her feel. Her heart rate had increased then due to mixed feelings; she was happy that Shego wanted her back, but she was upset that she was going to have to go with the northern lord. Most of her reactions went down those two roads.

She did allow herself to imagine what it would be like to be married to Shego. She guessed that it would be much like her time in the East after she had gotten over being with a woman. But then again, she was not very familiar with Goh marriages.

She thought on the two couples that she did know in the Goh Empire, Kim and Ron and Betty and Vivian. Two rather opposite couples, she thought. Kim and Ron were not as open with putting their marriage on display like Vivian and Betty were. Sure, Kim and Ron were affectionate with each other, but she doubted that many people knew they were married while it was probably impossible to not figure out that Betty and Vivian were married. Which couple would she and Shego be like if they were to tie the knot?

"We'd probably be more like those two and their public displays," Bonnie muttered to herself. After all, Shego liked touching her and she liked being touched.

What would it be like to be married to Shego, though? Beyond touching, what would it be like? She could not even imagine it because she did not know what marriage was supposed to be like. She just knew that the idea made her feel light on the inside and made her heart wish for it to come true. She wanted to experience marriage with Shego more than anyone else on the planet.

* * *

Bonnie was to meet the lord for the first time on the day of the wedding. It was held on the first day that was warm enough for people to stand being outside for a long period of time. There was a huge celebration, games and shows, which was expected. Bonnie was probably the only person not enjoying herself.

The ceremony itself seemed like it would never end to Bonnie. She was shocked that she had been able to stay on her feet through the whole speech. She knew that her knees wanted to buckle, but she thought about what her father might do to her if she collapsed and got her pure white tunic dirty. She could imagine his outrage with her if she embarrassed him in front of all of his important guests.

She mostly stared at the ground through it all, not wanting to see the man that she was being forced to marry. Her face was married with a deep, resentful scowl for the whole day. She wished that she could just run away, go back to the Goh Empire, and forget everything that her father ever did to her, including forcing her to get married.

Bonnie hardly noticed when the priest was finally done binding her to a man that she just met. She did not even look at him and was more than happy that he had not leaned down to kiss her when he was supposed to. Instead, he turned away and went to speak with guests. She was saved for the moment.

"He is going to want to kiss me and more sometime soon, though," Bonnie reminded herself, which filled her stomach with burning butterflies. The thought of him just touching her made her skin crawl and she felt like she would throw up if he even tried.

"Hold on, Monty. You forgot an important part of the ceremony," Governor Barkin said.

"Oh, right," the ebony-haired lord muttered, knowing just what Barkin was referring to.

Monty turned back to his new bride. Bonnie decided right then and there that she loathed her father with every fiber of her being. Monty put out a very hairy hand and pulled Bonnie to him. He leaned down and she turned her head.

"Now, now, my dear, is that any way to act with your husband?" Monty asked in a low, frightening tone.

The tanned princess gulped and a lone sweat bead scurried down her cheek because of his voice. She closed her eyes tightly as he gripped her chin to turn her head back to him. She tried to think of Shego as his lips crashed against her, but it was impossible to imagine that it was Shego touching her now. No, it was definitely not the Queen.

Bonnie felt like her entire being had just been violated as he kissed her. The kiss could not have lasted more than three seconds, but in that time, Bonnie felt like she could have died a million times. When he released her, she had to look at the ground because she was sure that if she looked at him, she would have to slay him for what he just did.

Shame swelled in her chest while he walked off to once again talk with the guests. What would Shego think of her now? She had been tainted by that vile looking man and she had been powerless in stopping him. Shego would probably hate her knowing that, she believed. That thought gave her the strength to lift her head because she wanted to glare at the man that just ravaged her, in her opinion anyway.

The princess could not help looking at her hew husband, practically trying to kill him with her eyes while he mingled with the guest. He was a creepy looking fellow with bags under his eyes and his long face reminded her of a horse. His mouth was constantly curled down in a frown. Then there were his hands; they appeared to be more appropriate on a monkey than on a lord. Her father did not seem to notice.

Barkin was speaking to Lord Montgomery Fiske, Bonnie's new husband, as if they were dear, old friends. He went to introduce Fiske to his other sons-in-law since they were around. Bonnie was going to disappear soon to make sure that she did not have to deal with her sisters since she knew that they came along with their husbands. She did not feel like putting up with them and obviously that was enough of an excuse for Fate to intercede.

"Hey, Bonnie," Connie called as she and Lonnie cut off their little sister's escape route. She sounded almost happy to see her little sister, which the youngest knew was deep sarcasm on the elder brunette's part.

"Connie. Lonnie," Bonnie greeted them through gritted teeth and an uncontrollable scowl on her face.

"Quite the handsome husband you've landed," Connie commented sarcastically while putting her hands on her hip, causing her bracelets to chime in with their rich noise. Her purple tunic shifted a bit with her; the golden trim shined as it moved. Violet and gold were the accepted royal colors of much of the West.

"If by handsome, you mean looks like a foot, you're right," Lonnie remarked with a chuckle as she brushed her platinum blonde hair out of her eyes. She was dressed in a lilac-colored tunic with a golden sash wrapped around her waist and half of her torso. She was flashing much more jewelry than her sisters, showing off a bit more it seemed.

Bonnie continued to frown. "Look, it's not like I wanted to marry him," she argued with a huff. She did not think that Lonnie had any right to talk about how someone's husband looked either.

"No? I guess you'd rather take the other proposal you got from that barbarian queen," Connie replied with a cruel laugh.

"Ew, you want to marry a woman? Are you a freak or what?" Lonnie chimed in, sounding utterly disgusted by the very notion.

If Bonnie scowled any deeper, surely her face would have split open and her lower lip along with her chin would have slid right off of her face. So what if she would rather get married to a barbarian queen than to a lord that looked like a monkey? At least she knew that she was more than a negotiating item to Shego. She knew that she was worth a lot more than a fortune to Shego considering the fact that the monarch was willing to let her tribute go if she could only have Bonnie back. Could her sisters say the same of their husbands? She doubted it. She was certain that she could say a lot about Shego that her sisters could not say about their husbands.

Hell, at least she knew that Shego cared about her, Bonnie thought. Shego trusted her with her life. Shego wanted to be around her and enjoyed her company. Shego liked her enough to offer to marry her, even though she knew that women being together in such a relationship was a taboo outside of the Goh Empire. Shego had gone out on a limb for her and it was only fueling her father's insanity further, making him think that Shego was weak when she was probably angry.

So, was it so wrong that she would rather be with Shego? Not at all in Bonnie's opinion. She wanted to be the person that she cared most about and she knew that she cared more about Shego than she did any other person because she was willing to protect Shego, like when those goons attempted to take Shego's life. Bonnie never protected anyone in her life before that. She was also willing to go against everything that she had ever been taught for Shego; she was willing to be with and imagine being the bride of a woman. She would do anything for Shego and she would do anything to be back with Shego.

* * *

Angry did not begin to cover what Shego was feeling. The intense burning in her system was that of hatred. Hatred for being denied twice, hatred for not being taken seriously, and hatred for not having her hellcat by her side anymore. There was going to be hell to pay for her causing that feeling inside of her because it actually was not a delightful sensation. It made her feel like she was rotting on the inside and that her organs were constantly wringing themselves out. She wanted it gone as soon as possible and for that to happen, she needed a certain fiery princess back.

"Are you sure this is the route you want to take?" Betty inquired. She was with Shego, Kim, Ron, and a few other commanders. They were looking down at a table, which was covered with a long map. There were pieces situated on the map in different positions.

"Do any of you think you're not up to it?" Shego countered, a dissatisfied frown permanently etched on her face. She had been scowling ever since Barkin turned down her marriage proposal and gave her kitten away to a filthy monkey, which she meant literally and figuratively thanks to the information that she got from her spies.

Her mind did not even want to think about what that disgusting monkey would try to do to her hellcat after the wedding. The last time her brain dared that road, her body shook uncontrollably with rage and she punched several holes in the nearest wall to stop. Her nerves remained anxious, though, as that thought was always right under the surface, threatening her composure.

The best that Shego would do to fight off the thought was promise her that Bonnie would never let that ape touch her. Her hellcat would fight him off, knowing that she belonged to the Queen and always would. Her kitten would keep him at bay and if not, well, then may the gods have mercy on his soul when Shego finally reached out and got a hand on him.

"Ah, well, it seems a little risky," Ron pointed out, even though he could see from a glint in Kim's eyes that she could not wait for them to arrive into position.

"He's right. What about the possibility of this lord, Monty whatever, signs a treaty with Hego, like Mego suggested. That could bring a halt to our entire operation," Betty concurred. It was the one thing that was on her mind that could muck up the works.

As far as Betty was concerned, they could pull out the miraculous all around attack that Shego was now foaming at the mouth for, but the one unknown factor that could throw everything out of line was Hego. The territory that Lord Fiske reigned over was in the West, but it was up north and very close to Hego's kingdom. Hego might not want fighting near his land. He might not trust Shego having land not only to the south of him, but also to the west of him. He could easily get nervous, not knowing what his sister was doing and even though he tried to act like he had faith in Shego, they all knew that he was also overprotective of his slice of land. There was no telling how he might react to a battle being so close to him.

Hego was just too overly cautious about his territory. Sometimes, his siblings would be surprised if he knew there was a world outside of his state as long as there was no trouble next to him. One of the problems that he had with Shego was that she did not seem to be content in her own little space like he was. She focused too much on the outside instead of the inside in his opinion. At least their father had their mother to focus on the inside when he was outside the Empire, Hego always thought.

"If Hego wants to get in my way, I'll feed the big blue idiot my fists and send him crying back to our mother," Shego declared while punching her fist into her palm. She did not care how her big brother reacted to what she was doing. It was none of his business in her opinion.

"Well, I'm guessing we're going along with this line of attack," Betty commented since there did not seem to be any talking Shego out of it.

"This is what we're going with and this is going to succeed," the Queen proclaimed, as if her word made it the truth.

"Spanking!" Kim cheered. She was all for the crazy plan, more than likely because it involved them doing the impossible and it gave her a chance to compete with Shego.

"Yeah, just try not to eat Will on this caper," Betty implored the redhead with a tired look on her face.

"I can't make that promise," Kim replied quite seriously.

"Stoppable, make sure she doesn't kill Will…or at least make a note of where she puts the body," Betty commented. She was being serious too because she had no idea what to expect from the little princess and Will Du if they were together and unsupervised.

"Rufus, you got that?" Ron asked, passing a task that he did not want to his best naked pal. Rufus jumped out of a side pouch and saluted.

Betty shook her head; she could not believe they were leaving such a heavy piece of work to three young people and a bald rodent. She really looked at them as still being kids even though all three of them had proven themselves time and time again on the battlefield, not to mention they were adults as far as society was concerned. They were still rather young though, and the Queen was leaving the fall of a major city to those three.

Betty's anxiety was not helped by the fact that Kim and Will were going to be working together…or so was the hope anyway. Those two fought a lot whenever they were placed anywhere near a battle together. There was a need between them to prove who was better and poor Ron was just caught in the middle of their madness. She hoped that Ron would be able to regulate things between those two or that they would at least be able to stay focused.

"All right, everyone, this is the plan, so let's get moving!" Shego barked and everyone rushed off.

Shego and Betty headed for the northern part of the West while Kim, Ron, and Will headed off to Middleton. The young trio would be getting the bulk of the army because Shego figured that a jackass like Barkin would have his allies go to his defense before letting them go to Fiske's defense. She already had his other two allies scouted to give her trio the best information that she could offer them.

The trio knew that they had a certain amount of time to take Middleton before the allies arrived. They were confident that they could do such a thing, but then again, Ron noticed that Kim and Will would probably be confident that they could walk on water if they were ordered to do so by Shego or Betty respectively. Ron was not about to knock them though because he saw those two in action. Kim definitely could do anything from what he could tell and Will was not looking to be shown up by her, so he would probably just do anything right behind her.

Will and Kim were actually honored that they were being given a shot at commanding an attack. Will was looking to impress his superiors, Betty and Shego. He wanted to move up in rank and he was certain that the co-command role that he was to play was the way to do it.

"Don't mess this up for me, Possible," Will ordered her as they prepared to leave.

"Hey, you don't mess this up for us," Kim replied, referring to not just her and Ron, but to everyone. They were at the start of the campaign the whole kingdom had been waiting for. Almost every family in the kingdom was involved in the war effort in more ways than one; the Goh Empire for the most part had a warrior culture after all, which was why so many people were for the conquest. There was also personal gain, which was another way to get people on board.

"Look, guys, instead of arguing with each other the whole way there, let's just agree to disagree," Ron said with a shrug. It was hard for even him to believe that he was the voice of reason when it came to those two. They could be such children sometimes, he thought.

Ron did think it was funny to watch Will and Kim go at each other when he was not the one keeping an eye on them. When Director was around and screaming at them, it was non-stop laughs for him. Betty always seemed to be the very definition of frustrated when she had to take time out of her day to separate Kim and Will, going so far as to put them on timeout and make them sit in corners in her tent. Ron could finally see why Betty had such kiddie punishments for them, though.

"Fine, let's just do this and be done with it," Kim said to Will.

"Agreed, but let's do the hell out of it," Will declared.

Kim smiled and the competitive pair decided to seal the deal with a handshake. They supposed that they were big enough to get along long enough to bring down one city. It was fairly important, after all. Ron sighed in relief, hoping that their little truce would actually make it through the siege.

* * *

Bonnie was starting to feel sick. She was glad that there was nothing in her stomach, lest she would have thrown it up a long time ago. She was getting closer to her new home, the palace of Lord Montgomery Fiske. The only thing keeping her together was the fact that she was riding alone in a drafty palanquin. Fiske had gone ahead of her, claiming that he wanted to make his home more to her liking. She doubted that.

She could feel the northern chill in the air, as she got closer and closer to the palace. The weather reminded her of her now husband. For the brief moments that they interacted back in Middleton, she could see him to be cold and unapproachable. There was a darkness in his eyes that put her off and made her walk away from him almost every time her father called her over to be by Fiske's side. She had been most fortunate that Fiske left Middleton before her father insisted that they consummate the marriage right in Middleton.

She was frightened and disgusted about having to share a bed with Fiske. Her stomach flipped and rolled whenever the thought crossed her mind. He did not look like the type that would be gentle with her and she doubted that he would be happy with her when she fought him, which she planned to do.

The princess was not going to willing give herself to that man, husband or not. She shivered in fear at the thought of him overpowering her, but she would still battle him tooth and nail. What would happen after that…one possibility caused her blood pool in her feet, along with her heart and guts.

She was, of course, bothered by the idea that Shego might not want her anymore if she was with Fiske. She knew that Shego was possessive of her, much like she was of Shego, wanting to be the only one for the Queen. How would Shego react if she was with someone else, Bonnie wondered? Her throat tightened over the possible answer. If she was forced into it, she hoped that Shego would understand and take that into consideration. Well, she had to also hope that she made it back to Shego.

Bonnie held onto the belief that Shego would somehow work at a way to get her back. She did not think that Shego would give up considering the lengths that the Goh queen had already gone through in trying to get her sent back into the Goh Empire. She figured that she was going to have start trying just as hard to get back to Shego, but she was not sure how to go about doing such a thing.

The tanned princess had considered running plenty of times, but she did not know where she would run to. She was not sure if she could make it back to the Goh Empire on her own; the world was a dangerous, unpredictable place, after all, and she was one spoiled brat that would be out there on her own. It would probably be best to stay in one place, in case Shego was searching for her. She wished that she could get word to the green-skinned woman or something, but she could not trust one person around her to send a message to the Goh ruler. She was going to be patient for a while since it was all she could do.

In her patience, she knew that she was also going to have to keep herself together. She was going to have to fight through the hollow feeling consuming her because of her separation from Shego. Everything seemed so empty and pointless without her lover near her. She never noticed how fulfilled she felt by Shego's side until she was not there anymore. Now, she felt like she was trapped in a nightmare and the entire world was frozen and desolate without Shego.

The land that Fiske ruled over was cold and barren, Bonnie noticed. It seemed like the whole land was dead, but she bet that the whole world seemed dead to her. It seemed dark, even though the sun was out. There were grey mountains, mountains, and more mountains with some flat brown-bluish lands in between. There were some cracked, leafless trees scattered about the place as if they had just been thrown randomly onto the landscape. It was a depressing piece of real estate and Bonnie learned that things did not get much better entering the main city.

Fiske's capital was set up on one of the many mountains dotting the land. The town was as dull grey as the land, covered in small wooden shacks. There were not many people around and the ones that she saw looked like death would be a welcome for them. Bonnie shrank into her palanquin to avoid having to see such a disheartening sight anymore.

"I want to go back…" Bonnie muttered, speaking to herself. She knew that she would not go back…to anywhere. She now lived with Fiske. She was his, legally anyway. To herself, she knew that she was Shego's and she figured that she always would be if the way that she felt right now meant anything.

Arriving at Fiske's palace was not much better than the trip getting there. It was a drafty place made of dark woods that looked on the verge of collapsing; it was a home that Bonnie hardly expected of a so-called lord. She was in for something far more shocking when she walked around the home. It was overrun with monkeys that were dressed in strange garments.

"Ah, my dear, you've made it here all right," Monty greeted Bonnie in the main hall of his home. He sounded just as creepy as she remembered.

"Um…yeah," Bonnie answered in an almost confused tone as she looked around at the monkeys hustling about the dark, cold place. She then turned her attention to her husband and saw what he was wearing.

Monty was dressed similar to his monkeys. The outfit was all black. Last time that she saw him, he was dressed in a tunic like everyone else; a white tunic at that. Now, he was wearing Eastern pants and a jacket that reminded her of something that she saw back in Shego's kingdom, but it was not quite the same thing.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Bonnie asked in a perplexed tone while trying to keep some distance between them. She was ready to run if he tried to touch her again. Gods help him if he tried to kiss her again; she figured that she would grab the nearest object and beat him in the head with it before she let him kiss her again.

"I always dress this way," Monty answered, stepping toward her because he noticed how she took a step back.

"Why?" Bonnie inquired, wishing that she could just flee from his presence right now. Instead, she backed into a wall and he continued pressing forward until he was practically leaning against her. She silently cursed herself for not knowing her surroundings because she put herself right where she did not need to be, without an exit route.

"Because this is how I like to dress," he answered smoothly.

Bonnie gulped while trying to hide her fear of the man before her. She was not sure what he had planned so close to her and she doubted that she would be able to stop him if he tried to do something she did not want. He smiled for the first time, a sinister expression brought on by the fact that he could practically smell the fright coming off the girl. She wished that he would go back to frowning.

She tried to glance around for a weapon in case she needed one, but she was not near anything that she could grab. A lone, frosty bead of sweat ran down her cheek. Her heart felt like it would explode in her chest and it took all of her willpower not to cry. Her soul screamed for the only person that she trusted to protect her and save her; her soul cried out for Shego.

Monty could almost see in her eyes who Bonnie was calling for. His eyes shined, delighting in Bonnie's monumental discomfort. He could almost hear her heart pounding against her ribs. He wished that she would try to run, just to make things more interesting, but she seemed to be stuck in place from fear.

"Calm yourself, girl," Monty ordered as he stepped away from her, losing interest in tormenting her it seemed.

Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he was away from her. Even his body heat felt wrong and torturous near her. He turned to look at her and his frown was back in place.

"Don't worry. I don't have any intention of doing anything to you," he assured her, not that she believed him. She refused to believe anything that came out of his mouth, whether it was to her benefit or not.

"Then why…why did you agree to marry me?" Bonnie inquired, some of her courage growing back now that there was some space between them. Her soul still cried out for Shego, though.

"For the alliance brought on by your father and then there's an important little fact," Monty commented.

"What important little fact?" she asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed and she frowned.

"You mean something to that harpy queen in the Empire," he answered.

Bonnie was taken back by that, but hid it well. She decided to call his bluff. "What makes you say that?"

"There's got to be a reason that she proposed marriage to the daughter of a mere Governor. She could easily devour your little city if she wanted to, but instead she wanted to form an alliance through marriage. So, you'll come in handy," he replied in a smug tone. "Don't worry, I'll keep you in good condition until that demon wench decides to step out of line," he said as an afterthought.

The last part of his statement worried Bonnie. What exactly was good condition? Beyond that, why was she going to "come in handy?" What if she did not "come in handy" or what if Shego did "step out of line?" What was he going to do to her?

Bonnie also wondered what Monty planned to do to Shego. Why was he so interested in her lover? She doubted it was for anything good. Bonnie thought that she felt bad before, but now her body just felt like turning to goo as she realized that she was going to be used as a tool against Shego. No, she could not let that happen, she ordered herself.

"You've got it all wrong. She was just testing my father to see if he would go for that. She didn't mean it," Bonnie tried to assure him. She did not care now that he might not keep her "in good condition." She just wanted to save Shego.

The lord chuckled a bit. "I know she did."

"She didn't. It was just a test. I don't mean anything to her. I was a hostage at her court," the princess pointed out.

"We'll see just how much you mean to that devil woman. She is on her way, after all," Monty informed her in a smug tone.

"On her way?" Bonnie muttered, doing a very good job at hiding the joy that she felt in knowing that. Shego would be there soon and she hopefully get her out of the nightmare that she was currently in. But then again, Shego might be falling into a trap laid out by Monty. Bonnie decided to have faith that the Queen would overcome anything that the monkey lord threw at her; it was all she could do if Shego was actually on her way. Besides, Shego was a very capable warrior; she could not take over so much land and scare so many people if she was not, after all.

"Yes, she's on her way. She thinks I don't know, but she's coming here. I wonder why," Monty said while cutting Bonnie an almost wicked glance. He had a feeling that Shego was going so far out of her way because he had Bonnie, which only delighted him more. The princess was going to prove very useful for him, he was certain of that. Now all he had to do was wait, and wait he would.

* * *

Will, Kim, and Ron had split up, each having a specific task to carry out. They were about to hit Middleton with a three pronged attack. They were going to hit the inside and the outside at the same time, but they were also going to hit from the land and from the side of the city that was supposed to be protected by the huge river. Kim was going in, Ron had the land forces on the outside, and Will would be coordinating a difficult landing then attack from the weak side.

"Be careful," Ron told Kim as she was about to penetrate Middleton's wall once again. The sun was going down as their forces gathered in the woods. The plan was to unleash Hell during the night when everyone was fast asleep. At the latest things would start at twilight if visibility was too difficult.

"No big. If I've done it once, I've done it a thousand times," Kim boasted with a smile and a shrug.

"Are you sure you don't want to take Rufus with you?" Ron offered, holding up the aforementioned rodent.

"Nah, you keep Rufus. You'll probably need his eyes more than I will," Kim remarked with a laugh.

"Well then, be careful," Ron repeated. He leaned down and gave Kim a gentle kiss while Rufus gagged at the show of affection. The kiss was not a big deal because they did not want the situation to come across as a big deal. It was something that they did all the time; although it certainly was the first time that they were left in charge completely.

Kim lingered for a moment when they pulled away. The couple stared at each other for that short time frame and then their eyes reminded them that they had jobs to do. They both nodded their understanding and Kim took off after that since there was no reason to stick around.

The redhead had no problem slipping into Middleton again. She had a limited amount of time to contact the high-ranking soldiers that stayed behind; they would then contact the lower ranking members of the army. It was time to turn Middleton inside out for betraying the Goh Empire.

Once Kim was certain that everyone on the inside was ready, she sent up a single to Ron and Will. She shot a two flaming arrows into the air and could only hope that the guys had enough light from the moon to start their parts. But then again, Will did like to point out it did not take much sight to be able to hit a wall with large projectile. The people that had to load the projectiles liked to point out that it took a lot of light to put the ammunition on the weapons correctly.

Ron moved his forces into position. He figured as long as no cloud cover moved in, they would be all right. The big weapons were set up to take out the wall; catapults that had been designed by engineers in the Goh Empire. The ability to fling large projectiles at a high speed was new and it was almost exclusive to Shego's kingdom. It was a development that came along when people would rather hide behind the walls of their city instead of meet on a battlefield.

Will was managing the landing on the muddy riverbank. His forces piled out of the ships and they were going to slip into Middleton while Ron was distracting the city's protectors with his direct assault. There were siege machines being unloaded to go over the walls quickly and also a couple of catapults in case they were spotted. There were also a few ships that were anchored in the river that were loaded with archers, who were set to fire at the first sign of something going amiss.

"This'll definitely get me a higher rank," Will thought to himself as everything went smoothly. He had no real problem with his lot in life; after all, he was one of Betty's most trusted men. It was just that Betty taught him to climb as high as he could until he was happy with himself and fulfilled his potential.

Kim and Ron really had nothing to gain since they were already top personnel, not to mention that Kim was the Queen's adopted sister. But, Kim was ready to do what she could for her people and Ron was ready to just have Kim's back. The trio found that they were at the top of their game as the onslaught began.

* * *

Shego was resting in her tent. They were so close to Fiske's capital that she felt like running there on her own. Instead, she was stuck going over strategies with Betty and a couple of other people. They were interrupted by the arrival of a messenger, which was brought to them by a soldier.

"Excuse me, this arrived from Lord Fiske," the soldier reported, pointing down to the small messenger. No one seemed surprised by the contact, even though they were trying to make a surprise attack.

"Is that a fucking monkey?" Shego inquired as she peered at the creature. It was covered from head to toe in black, but the tail was a dead giveaway that it was not human.

"It has something for you," the soldier replied.

Shego reached out and the monkey handed her a scroll. She kept an eye on the animal as she unfurled the document. She read through it and turned her attention to the monkey. She smiled a sinister expression as her hand caught fire and the scroll was burnt asunder.

"Put that thing in a cage. I think we've got a new pet for Kim's buffoon," Shego remarked and within her issuing the order, the monkey was swiftly seized and placed into a diminutive cage.

"Um…you do know Ron's scared of monkeys, right?" Betty pointed out.

"Even better," Shego said, still smiling. The expression was much darker than it usually was and something told everyone that Lord Fiske was going to regret whatever he said in that scroll.

* * *

Next time: Time for some action, a rescue and a little revenge.


	19. Hate the player

I don't own these characters.

19: Hate the player

Bonnie was staying in her bedroom at Fiske's manor. The room was like the rest of the house: dark, drafty, dusty, and coated in almost tangible evil. The air felt like it was crushing and the walls seemed to think sinister thoughts while the floor seemed ready to devour everything that touched it. Each sound that echoed through the place seemed to whisper torment and distress while plotting eternal suffering for all inside.

The princess barricaded the door shut with a table pressed against it since she was in there. She piled what she could on that platform, books from the shelf in the corner, a couple of chairs that were around the room, and whatever was on the table in the first place.

She did not want know if it would keep Fiske out if he ever decided to come in, but she figured that it was worth a shot. She did know that it kept those filthy monkeys from coming in, which was almost as important as keeping Monty out in her opinion. After all, they followed his orders blindly and almost better than any human slave, so she did not want them near her either.

She had gone over her room several times after making sure that the door was secure. She found quite a few items that could double as weapons and she hid them in various places around the room. If those monkeys or their master made their way in, she was going to make them regret it…or so was the plan. She was not going to go down easily, not just for herself, but also for Shego. She did not want to be used as a tool anymore, by anyone, especially against the Queen.

Every now and then, Bonnie could hear her new, unwanted husband ranting about something from down the hall. The drafty manor carried sound rather well, which only added to the creepiness of the whole place. She really wanted to go home, and by home, she meant back with Shego.

Shego's section of the Goh Empire was the first place to ever _feel_ like home to Bonnie. She was not sure if it was one individual thing or just a number of things, like the fact that she had friends there, that made the place home, but it was home. She wanted to go back there, back to the safe feel of her lover's arms, back to the place she was not a tool, back to the place where her opinion mattered, and back to the place where people liked her for who she was.

She curled herself up at the head of the bed, which she had to clean off before she dared sit on it. The black cover that had been left on the bed had been covered in almost an inch of dust and grim. Thankfully, it shielded the sheets underneath it from being soiled by the same things.

She tried her best not to look around the bedroom that had been given to her by Fiske. The room was still quite dirty because she only cleaned off the bed, which was the only thing that she planned to touch for a prolonged period of time. All of the other furniture was covered in dust and there were cobwebs in every available corner. Bonnie worried about insects crawling around in her hair for a few seconds before she went back to fretting over her current situation.

She jumped when she heard the Lord of the land cackling for whatever reason. It was something that he did from time to time whenever he started ranting. His laughter sounded like a summoning for demons and she had come to wonder what it meant. Was it triggered by thoughts of what he planned to do to her lover? She feared that was the case.

Bonnie's heart was racing because she did not know what to expect from Fiske. He claimed that he did not have any interest in touching her, which she really did not believe. She was just something for him to use to get an alliance with her father and her brothers-in-law. She was also something for him to use to get something from Shego. Her heart clenched in her chest as she considered that she might be used to put Shego in danger or worse she might somehow cost Shego her life.

She did not even think about what might happen to her once Fiske got what he wanted out of the Goh queen. Her mind mostly reeled around Shego's fate and the fact that she was bait for the monarch. The thought made her throat go dry and close up for some long, precious seconds.

The tanned princess did not want to be the reason that something terrible happened to Shego. Not after how Shego made her feel and how Shego treated her, not like a bargaining chip, but like a person that actually mattered at face value. The Queen made her feel like a real person, but also like a special person that the same time. It was not just that she was a princess, which was the reason that others treated her nicely, but that she was a unique individual that mattered to Shego personally and she just did not want to be the one to get Shego in trouble after everything.

Besides, she really did not want to lose Shego for selfish reasons. She needed Shego in her life. She needed someone to prove to her that she was not just a piece on a game board that could be used and discarded.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Fiske start up again, loudly rambling through out the halls of the manor. She assumed that he was talking to himself. She was giving him that much credit because she did not want to believe that he was talking to his filthy monkeys as if they were human beings. It was bad enough that he used them as if they were people, but if he talked to them as if they were humans too, she thought that was beyond insanity.

Bonnie turned to look at her window with the hope of tuning out Fiske's ranting. The scenery outside of the window was just as depressing as looking around the dark room. The land was bleak.

There were only a few trees in sight and they were all bald, cracked, and dried out. The ground was gray as was the sky. Dark clouds flooded the air, blocking out the sun, which did not even seem to bother peeking out to see what was going on.

The atmosphere crept into her being and making her feel like she should just abandon all hope and settle into her new-found Hell. For some reason that she was not yet willing to admit to herself, she would rather stay in Hell than to be used as a tool against Shego. She could not admit to herself mostly because she did not understand why she could sacrifice herself for her lover.

* * *

Monty was pacing around the main room of his home, his hands held tensely behind his back as he moved. His hands were balled into tight fists and his spine was straight as a rod. His muscles actually seemed tense, almost rigid. His eyes seemed focused and intense, but looked at nothing in particular. He was so sure that he had the demon queen of Goh.

There were monkeys around the area, perched on the mantle and other places about the dreary room. They eyed their master behind their black masks, watching his movements as if his body controlled their heads. They did not make any sounds, knowing that it was Fiske's moment.

The group was practically bathed in dark shadows, despite the fact that the sun was up. There were not many windows in the whole manor house. Fiske did not have lanterns or candles lit either. There were not even any mirrors around the place to reflect the light around the room or most other areas in the manor.

His face was grim as usual, but he was smiling. There was a pleased look in his hard obsidian eyes, which, despite his expression were still weighed down by nearly-black bags. He believed that he was to get his way since he knew that he had something precious to that barbarian demon, Shego. He was not sure what was so special about his little bride, but she was his ticket to everything that he dreamed of. Oh, how Fate had smiled on him when Governor Barkin offered him his daughter for a simple alliance!

That fool Barkin did not know what he had, Fiske thought to himself. Barkin could have used Bonnie for all sorts of treasures of the Goh Empire, but he was too stupid to know it. Well, Barkin's loss was his gain because he certainly was going to use Bonnie to plunder a few treasures of the Empire.

"I'll finally be able to be a complete and total master of mystical monkey powers!" Monty declared, following up with a sinister laugh as he threw his hands high into the air as if he was trying to touch the high ceiling.

As if on cue, the monkeys around him made some loud noises for a few moments, celebrating with him it would seem. They hooted and howled while banging on the closest surface, whether it was a grimy wall or the dust-coated, chipped wooden mantle. When they quieted down, Monty picked right back up where he left off.

"She'll give me everything I need! I'll get all of the weapons, the scrolls, just everything about these powers that are owed to me!" the lord proclaimed, as loud as before and with just as much vigor.

Monty hit himself in the chest as if to emphasize his point. The monkeys followed suit and began pounding on their chest while screaming at the top of their little monkey lungs. The noise went on for quite sometime; Bonnie was cringing in her bedroom where she could clearly hear all of the horrendous screeching.

"And once I get all of that I will finally be the one and only master of all of the mystic monkey powers!" Fiske hollered and more cheering went on.

Monty was planning to use Bonnie to get Shego to hand over one of the Goh Empire's oldest treasures. He wanted any and all artifacts that related to mystic monkey power and also Tai Shing Pe Kwar, one of the Empire's many martial arts. He coveted the items and power ever since he stumbled across the knowledge almost twenty years ago. Since then, he hunted for every little bit on the art and power that he could, only to end up with a handful of items.

He believed that Shego was going to hand over everything that he demanded in a message that he sent out earlier because Bonnie obviously meant so much to Shego. Hey, he figured if Shego was willing to make a total ass out of herself by actually proposing marriage to a princess that came from a culture where women did not lay with other women, in a culture where actually such a mention of such a thing was revolting to most people, and Shego was well aware of that, then Bonnie had to mean a great deal to the Daughter of Death. She knew that her proposal would probably get her turned into a laughing stock, but she took that step anyway because she obviously wanted Bonnie back desperately. He was certain that he would be able to use Bonnie to get everything that he desired because she did not even have to make an ass out of herself that time.

So, Fiske sent word to Shego, letting her know that the princess was at his mercy. If Shego did not give into his demands, he let her know some of the horrible things that he could do to Bonnie and he really had no problem in doing any of them. Bonnie meant nothing to him after all, and her suffering was the same as a mouse in a trap. If Shego followed his instructions, he implied that he _might_ consider giving Bonnie to her. He obviously thought that he had Shego if he was playing around with words like that and toying with her emotions as he was.

"Once I get these powers, I'll take over the Goh Empire and all of the world!" Monty proclaimed and he began to cackle like a demented donkey. His minions wasted no time joining in.

* * *

"Will someone shut that fucking monkey up!" Shego screamed in frustration, because the little caged creature was hollering at the top of its lungs in the corner of her tent. She was with her general, looking over documents. There were some servants wandering around the large tent, but no one else that had to do with the army.

"I thought someone took it to eat it," Betty commented as she turned to throw a rock at the irksome monkey. The projectile smacked against the wooden cage and the monkey just began hooting more. The two women scowled because of the beast.

"I thought so, too. Where the hell is that kid that was going to eat the fucking monkey?" the Queen hollered in the direction of the tent entrance with the hope that someone would hear her and come take the damned boisterous primate away. A pair of guys that were with them had claimed that they were going to eat the monkey, since Betty was so opposed to giving it to Ron and scaring the living shit out of him. The pair left and had yet to come back for their snack.

"Hey, at this point, even I'll eat the fucking thing. This is like the most decrepit, piece of shit land I've ever fucking seen. There's not even a bird to shoot down and put on a spit," Betty remarked while they tried to ignore the noisy, annoying monkey. They were not hard up for food, but it was disturbing that hardly any birds were out, despite the fact that winter was waning. They had not seen any rodents either; it was like the whole land was dead.

"There aren't even fucking rats around here. I can see why this bastard knows so much about mystical monkey bullshit. There's nothing else do around the fucking place than read about better things in better lands," Shego muttered with a frown forever marring her features. She was bothered by the fact that Fiske knew so much about things that were kept such a great secret in the Empire that most people believed them to be more myth than anything else.

"Are you going to give him all of that shit anyway?" the one-eyed woman inquired with a raised eyebrow.

Shego looked up at her general. Her emerald eyes still fogged over with the same diamond-hard hatred that had been there since the start of the march. It answered the brown-haired warrior's question better than any words could.

Betty nodded slightly. "All right then, I guess we're proceeding with this plan then."

"This _is_ the plan. I'm getting my fucking kitten back and there will be Hell to pay," the raven-haired monarch commented in a low menacing tone. Her top lip trembled with a sneer while her teeth ground against each other. She made a fist so tight that her nails ate into her palms and her brain did not register the pain.

"Don't you mean 'or there'll be Hell to pay?'" Betty asked with a puzzled expression on her face. She folded her arms across her chest while keeping her eyes on the Queen, but contemplating the plan once again.

"Oh, no, I mean _and_," Shego replied, nodding slightly to herself. She leaned back against a sturdy tent pole while releasing her tense fist. She rested her chin in her hand and rubbed her chin; the simple motion seemed heated and on edge. A heavy vibe of sheer hatred seemed to radiate from her.

The Queen's mood was growing darker by the second, making the air around her sweltering and almost suffocating. Some of the servants actually felt like they might collapse if they had to be around their monarch for more than a minute. Betty was the only one that could sit with Shego for long periods of time now and that was only through sheer force of will; like hell she was going to show any weakness around Shego.

It was clear from the clouded look in her eyes. It was something that Betty had never seen before, but then again, she doubted that she had ever witnessed Shego being jerked around by so many people either. First Barkin had denied her twice, reportedly laughing over her offers. And now, Fiske was attempting to use Bonnie against the Queen, making it seem like he had Shego was a pet cat and Bonnie was a toy mouse for him to tease her with. Betty could only wonder if the Queen was going to blow and take a bunch of people with her.

* * *

Middleton did not know what hit it. It took half the battle for people to even realize what was going on. The Gohs were attacking the front wall, but also the Gohs that had been left behind that winter were suddenly attacking. Then there were more forces coming and the citizens of Middleton could not figure out how; Will's people were coming over the wall that faced the supposedly protective river.

"Keep going!" Ron commanded his forces, throwing his hand up and motioning forward. He was not urging anyone to charge.

Ron and his troops had the dangerous job of being the decoys by offering up the attack on the front wall. It was not as dangerous as it could have been. After all, they had their catapults to go up against the wall; but, they were still being fired upon and they could still suffer a good deal of loses if they stayed right where they were to keep up the assault on the wall rather than progressing forward at some point.

The blonde leader took a deep breath while keeping an eye on the sky. He wanted to see if there were any clouds rolling in. Right now, he would not mind cloud cover. It would leave the Middleton defenders shooting blind, and even though his forces would be the same, the catapults were already locked on to certain targets. They did not have to move their machines to keep them on target.

"C'mon! You guys can do better than that!" Ron hollered at his forces while pointing toward the wall. Or so he hoped that they could do better than that anyway.

The walls were holding, much to Ron's dismay. He wanted to make sure that he kept the city's attention while also making some headway. He did have forces to overrun the city, if they could just make it through the walls. He also needed to seem like he and his troops posed a threat to the wall to keep attention on them with the hope that Will got his people in the city.

Will was moving just as one might expect him to, efficiently. He had his forces moving over the wall neatly and quickly. By the time it was discovered that Will had troops climbing up the wall, there were already enough people inside to fend off any of the Middleton fighters that were looking to halt the breach. Will himself was standing on the wall to regulate the people coming up and going in.

The ebony-haired commander was met by Middleton defenders because of his location. Will wasted no time getting into his own fighting while still ordering his troops to keep coming at the same pace. He pulled out his weapon of choice, which was a thin chain staff. It was good for working like a bo staff, but it also had a pointed tip that he could fling out for distance shots. With keen aim, which he did have, he could put the blade of his weapon into opponents' throats and with the arrow-head design of the tip, when he pulled it out, it would take a chunk of flesh with it and that was typically the end of his enemies.

"Is this really the best you can do?" Will nearly chuckled as he swung his weapon and took down the men rushing toward his ladders' position against the wall. He thought that it would be nice for them to have been able to bring siege towers on the ships that they used to come up the river, but the towers would have taken up too much space.

Will was coming to believe that the Goh army would probably have eaten the Middleton army for breakfast if they had met in a proper battle. The Goh army was much more disciplined than the Middleton troops and that was clear to see with what was happening on the wall. The Goh soldiers did not panic and continued moving at the pace that Will set for them, even though they were being fired at with arrows.

In contrast, the Middleton forces were not sure if they should attack or retreat when Will and other soldiers pounced. Some of the Middleton men ran at the sight of their comrades falling to the Goh warriors. Other Middleton soldiers were frozen in terror by the fact that the Goh fighters continued coming, even if their comrades fell during the advance. For the Gohs, one death did not stop the whole advance or even slow it down; it was like they did not even notice if their comrades fell and they just kept coming. It was as if they were machines, the Middleton soldiers thought; the Gohs were killing machines. How were they supposed to fight killing machines that refused to stop coming for any reason?

"This almost insulting," Will commented while moving out of the way of a short, thick broad sword. The Middleton man ended up getting his own cohort with his sloppy strike.

The narrow walkway of the wall was helping Will and a few of his forces hold off the Middleton men from both sides. They were buying time for the rest of their comrades to get over the wall and into the city. The other Goh troops were not disappointing either, coming over and continuing to move. Some Gohs took over for others in defending the ladders while allowing those first defenders to enter the city.

"Keep moving!" Will ordered his men. He hoped that Ron and Kim were having as much success as he was. He could not see to the front side of the city to know if Ron managed to make it through the wall, but he was seeing small signs that Kim was doing quite well in mobilizing the forces that had stayed behind from their first visit to the city.

Kim's part of the mission did not go well with giving up signs, but there were a couple of fires popping up in the city, which Will guessed were being caused by their agents. He was right, but the few fires were caused by accident and not by design. A few of the inside soldiers were running into guards while going to carry out certain orders. The guards happened to be carrying lanterns and the lanterns were knocked out of their hands. Those lanterns landed on flammable materials and now small sections of Middleton were on fire.

The redhead was sure that she was holding up her end of the joint attack, but now she had a personal mission to carry out. She was checking on any Goh agents on her way to complete her task. She wanted to make sure everyone was working as they should, even though it was holding her up from working as _she_ should.

Shego had handed Kim a special mission at the last moment, and she was not going to let her adopted sister down. She was also not about to fail a special mission, knowing that all kinds of teasing would come her way for far longer than she needed.

As the skilled redhead traveled closer to the Governor's mansion, she looked to the front of the Middleton, which was at her back. She silently hoped that Ron was all right, even though she had no doubt that he was. It was not like he was an idiot and he was a battle-tested soldier. He was fine, she assured herself.

"Mind on the project, Possible," Kim ordered herself as she focused her eyes back to the mansion.

The redhead rushed to her target: the Governor's home. She got in with no problem, just like before. She noticed that the guards were rushing all over the place, trying to figure out what the hell was heavy-hitting their city. She sighed, knowing that doing what she needed to do was going to be a bit more difficult in such chaos.

Kim knew that in times of attack the Governor was taken to safety through a series of secret tunnels. Thanks to hard working spies under Betty's rough command, she knew what tunnel was likely to be used to get the Governor not just out of the mansion, but out of the city. It was great that the Goh intelligence agents had been able to map so much of the city and the main buildings, she thought with a smile. She wasted no time creeping to that area and was able to see Barkin being hustled into a tunnel that was hidden in the floor of a banquet hall.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Kim inquired as she dropped from the ceiling, surprising all of the men around Barkin. She barely made a sound when she landed and for a moment those around considered that she might be some wrathful spirit that worked for the demon Queen that the Governor knew was responsible for the attack on his city.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Barkin demanded to know, even though he could guess.

Kim smiled, looking shockingly wicked. She lunged at Barkin and would have gotten him if a couple of guards did not react quickly. They actually moved more out of a panic and just happened to place themselves in front of their leader. She huffed and wasted no time acting against them, whipping them in their faces with a powerful jump kick. The other guards moved in as she downed those pair; the defense was now by design, not terror.

"You better not run!" Kim ordered Barkin as she started taking down the dozens of guards that were coming at her.

Barkin did not listen to that command, moving off into the tunnel as soon as he had the chance. Kim chased after him, but she was held up as the guards blocked her path. Eventually, she lost him in the dark.

"Damn it!" Kim screamed at the top of her lungs, loud enough that Ron heard her as his team dropped enough of the wall for some of the braver souls to rush into the city, which they did with grins on their faces. Middleton was now being infiltrated from the front and back while people on the inside were already devouring the center.

* * *

Monty Fiske paced his main hall. His scowl was back in place, but it was difficult to see since it was completely dark now. He had his hands behind his back again; they were tense. But then again, his whole body was tighter than a drawn bow string. He was getting nervous and annoyed, which was why he was moving around the room, wearing an erratic path in his thin rugs.

"Why hasn't she answered my demands yet?" Fiske wondered aloud, almost growling at the night as he spoke.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I have," a sinister, cold voice commented from behind him.

Fiske whipped around to see who was in the room with him. He saw an eerie green glow coming toward him, seeming to be floating in space. For a moment, he thought that he was being haunted by some sort of malevolent spirit, but then his eyes began to notice a face being illuminated by the jade light. A female dressed in black and green was approaching from what he could tell; he did not yet know that the demonic looking woman coming toward him was the barbarian queen that he thought he had gotten the better of.

"Who are you? How'd you get in here?" he demanded to know, barking at the strange woman.

"You know who I am and in a second you're not going to give a fuck about how," Shego commented in a dark, confident tone.

"Shego…?" he asked in a curious tone. He was squinting, hoping to make out her features through the green light that he knew she was producing. He had heard plenty of tales that the demon woman could make an emerald fire, but he thought that it was a myth or a story made up by frightened peasants.

"That's who I am when I wake up every morning. A privilege that you ceased to enjoy this passing sunrise," she replied in a menacing tone while flexing her left hand to crack her knuckles.

"Now, now, Shego. You don't want to do anything too hasty. I do have your precious princess, after all," he pointed out in a confident voice with a cocky smirk. There was a smug, proud look in his onyx eyes that just pissed Shego off ten-fold.

Shego's frown deepened and the corner of her mouth twitched. How dare that bastard bring up her kitten and try to use Bonnie against her! The nerve of him, the gall! The fire around her hands flared higher, dancing maliciously as if promising sweet agony soon enough.

"Try again," Shego said calmly and coldly as she continued closer to the lord. Her steps were nearly methodically and would have driven Monty mad, if only he were not already there.

Fiske was surprised by her response; her voice was completely the opposite of what he expected. He was certain that Bonnie meant something to her; after all, there she was on his land instead of invading better territory in the West. Yet, she sounded like he could kill Bonnie right now and she would not even spare the princess a glance. It would seem that he miscalculated, he realized.

A cold, lone bead of sweat ran down his long face, but then he remembered something very important to his situation. He was a master of the ancient art of Tai Shing Pek Kwar. He should be able to put her in her place and force her to give him what he wanted, he figured; Tai Shing Pek Kwar was like the ultimate form of martial arts, in his opinion anyway.

"I guess I'll just have to beat you into giving me what I want," Fiske declared while crouching down into his fighting stance.

Shego openly laughed, thoroughly amused. "You want to be a Goh so badly. You steal our clothing style and our arts. You want our secrets, secrets that I know, and you dare put your hands up against me? You're a bigger fool than I thought."

"You talk a big game, but I'm a master at monkey kung-fu," he proclaimed haughtily, smirking once again.

"Filthy braggart, the arts I know eats monkeys for breakfast. Now, let me show you what happens to people that cross me!" Shego snarled as she charged the foolish bastard.

Fiske let out a battle cry that sounded like a monkey shouting, which did not surprise Shego. She was infuriated and actually offended that he had attempted to steal her culture and make it his own, and then he had the gall to try to blackmail her into handing over more of her culture to him. She doubted that he respected any of the philosophy and discipline that came with learning such a martial art.

Shego slashed at Fiske with her flaming hands and he evaded her. She growled in anger because he was swifter than she had thought he would be. Okay, so he was not some poser. He did know martial arts, but she was not going to let that stop her from tearing him down. After all, he tried to use her kitten again her. That was beyond unforgivable.

"Bastard," the furious Queen hissed into the dark.

Fiske thought that he would be able to counter Shego since she missed him, but he found that she was better than he wanted to give her credit for. She came with a kick that he had not expected. It connected with the side of his head and backed him up. A gash opened up on his head from that one blow and he almost became dizzy from it, but willed his brain to remain on task.

He put his hands up as he saw that she was coming in for another attack. She snarled like wronged lion as she tried to slash his chest open with both of her hands. He kept his hands up, so he got to get keep his ribs, but his sleeves were lost to her talons. The black material fluttered to the ground slowly, contrasting with their rapid, hard body movements.

"Think about this. If you do anything to me, you'll never find the princess," Fiske pointed out, getting a bit nervous over her relentless attacking.

"Stop talking about her!" Shego commanded while taking another powerful slash at him with the intent of clawing his face off.

Fiske growled and decided to just take Shego on since she did not seem to be yielding to the fact that he could destroy the little princess at anytime. He blocked her assault and tried to come in for a counterattack. She put her hands up to defend herself and then crouched down to take his legs out from underneath. He leaped out of the way and found that Shego had more tricks up her sleeve. She acted quickly and threw two flaming green spheres at him as he retreated. His eyes went wide with shock and he was hit right in the chest by the blast. He coughed as the shot impacted his body.

"This only the beginning, Fiske," Shego promised him in an ominous voice. She was going to make him pay for trying to make Bonnie a tool and she had a lot of time to do it since she did not have to worry about Bonnie.

* * *

Bonnie could hear some suspicious noises going on outside of her room. First, she heard sounds in the distance. They were not like any sounds that she had ever heard before. There was a hint of intense violence to them, though. She did not understand it and she did not have much time to worry about it because the next noise took all of her attention.

About a minute ago, the princess heard movement outside of her door. It sounded like someone was trying to get in, but she still had the door covered in all kinds of junk. Hell, if she could have pushed the bed against the door, then she would have. She did not know what was going on, but she did not like it.

She did consider hiding, but she thought that every place in the room was too obvious. Under the bed and in the closest, which were just about the only places that she could fit, seemed like they would be the first places searched for signs of life in the area. So, instead of hiding, she remained at the head of her bed, sitting with her knees pulled to her chest like a frightened child. She just did not know what else to do.

"This is fucking bullshit…" Bonnie heard someone mutter.

The tanned woman turned her attention to her window as the dilapidated shutters burst open. Her heart jumped into her throat as someone entered the room. Even though Bonnie had candles lit for as much light as she was going to get in the dreary room, the person that just came in was still coated in shadows. Bonnie decided that now was the time to show that she was not as helpless as she was acting. She pulled out a dagger that she had concealed in a sash behind her back.

"Stay back. I have a knife," Bonnie informed the intruder. There was steel in her voice and a determined glint in her eyes.

"Wow, Shego would be proud," a familiar voice remarked. "Her little hellcat is brandishing knives and is all ready to kill."

"Betty?" Bonnie asked in a confused tone.

"Yeah, one and the same. I'm glad you pulled a knife instead of throwing something," the one-eyed woman replied as she came close enough for Bonnie to finally make out that it was indeed her.

"Where's Shego?" Bonnie inquired as she put her knife away and crawled to the edge of the bed.

"Taking care of some business. I'm here to get you out of here. I was trying to come in through the door, but apparently you've considered that it would be a good way for someone to come in here and get you in a bad way. Come on," Betty said while motioning forward with her hand.

"Where are we going? Are we going to get Shego?" Bonnie asked curiously as she stood up next to Betty.

"Don't worry about Shego. You'll be seeing her soon enough. For now, I've got to get you to safety," Betty said and she moved the things away from the door. "I hope you can keep up."

Betty was shocked that Bonnie was indeed able to keep with her as she ran through the manor; the princess remained at her side through out it all, not once requesting that she slow down or that they take a break. They passed several downed monkeys and also a few downed Goh soldiers. They did not stop to help those soldiers, though; Betty's mission was to get Bonnie to safety at any cost and she knew that was best. It would calm Shego down and they could work on the original Goh objective. To that end, Betty got Bonnie to Shego's tent and there, together, they waited for Shego.

* * *

Next time: the end of Shego's battle with Fiske. Will she be reunited with Bonnie?


	20. Emotional

I don't own these characters.

20: Emotional

Shego and Lord Fiske danced around in the dark, the only light in the room coming from her deadly hands. The fact that she controlled the light, it made it seem like she commanded the dark also. It was almost like she could have his own shadows devour him in an instant, but he tried his best to ignore such a feeling.

Fiske had been confident at the start that his martial arts was superior to hers, so he thought that he had the fight in the bag. Time was proving him wrong. It felt more and more like the darkness and light would consume him whole.

Shego, and the small amount of troops that she had brought with her to Fiske's land in the north, had infiltrated his home that night. She had gone with that style of attack because she was not really looking to take over his capital or annex his land. She just wanted her hellcat back. Whatever came along with getting Bonnie back was just extra punishment for a jackass like Fiske in her opinion.

Although Shego wanted nothing more than to hold Bonnie in her arms, she had gone after Fiske instead of going to rescue Bonnie. She trusted that important job to her second-in-command and had no doubt that Betty would not let her down. Shego had a lot of rage boiling in her system thanks to Fiske and how he tried to use Bonnie, so she felt a need to go and tear him down bit by tiny bit. It seemed like the only fair and logical way to get rid of the hate that built in her heart thanks to him.

Fiske had misjudged Shego too many times in one outing. He thought that he would be able to control her through Bonnie. He thought that he would be able to top her martial arts with his own. And he was now learning how wrong he was; he messed with the bull and his ass was certainly getting the horns.

The lord could practically feel Shego's anger through the heat coming from her hands, heat that he was trying to keep off of him. Her flames kissed his arms with undesired intensity whenever he blocked. He would avoid blocking altogether if only he could not think of what her fire might do to his face should it touch him. Since he did block, his face did not have to worry about her powers; it _did_ have to worry about her legs. She delivered snapping kicks to his face whenever he left her an opening to do so.

He, unfortunately, could not kick with the same force as she did because he lacked proper feet. She had noticed his feet looked like his hands, which appeared to belong to a monkey rather than a man. His kick came out more like a chop or a punch, which she blocked for the most part. She did not seem too concerned with many of his moves.

She would concede that he was a master at monkey kung-fu, but that did not impress her. She knew plenty of masters at that and other arts; all of them would have been able to take Fiske in her opinion. She just continued to come at him.

His chest had to worry about the claws what were attached to her fingers. His clothing was already shredded thanks to her sharp hands. The parts of him that were bare and caught with her claws experienced horrible pain as her talons ate his flesh like a wolf's teeth and her fire burned the wounds shut.

"I told you, I know this style. I know it backwards and forwards and you can't beat me with it," Shego declared as she continued her assault on the bastard that was making her feel utter hatred. She did not like the emotion, and figured that the best way to cure it was to punish the cause. She might never forgive him for the crimes that he had committed, but she was determined to stop hating him before the night was over.

* * *

Betty got Bonnie to the Goh camp with some ease; there were harder things that she had done in life. She did not have to worry about too many enemies as their troops were taking care of all of Fiske's monkey minions. She did not get away unmarked, but she did not mind the small cut that across her forearm.

Bonnie was not scratched in the slightest and that was the important thing to Betty. After all, Bonnie was not a warrior and she was the point of the whole mission, so it was paramount that Bonnie was all right. There was also the fact that the sight of an unharmed Bonnie would soothe away any ill feelings that the Queen might still have inside of her.

The one-eyed woman walked Bonnie over to the royal tent, which was not set up as lavishly as it usually was. The camp had been put up hastily and was made to be taken down that way too. It was due to the nature of their mission; they were not there as an invading army, they were there as stealth warriors, dipping into a lord's home and essentially stealing his wife.

"Wait here. Make yourself comfortable and everything. You'll be fine," Betty promised Bonnie. It seemed like she was stating the obvious, but she felt it was necessary since Bonnie seemed to be a prisoner for Fiske more than anything else; she gathered that from the way the tanned princess was barricaded up in her room.

"What about Shego? Is she coming soon?" Bonnie asked curiously, scanning the tent for some sign that the Queen would be back.

"She'll be here before sunrise. There'll be some food coming for you in a little while. I'm going to go take care of this stupid cut," Betty informed the younger woman while motioning to her wounded forearm.

Bonnie nodded and she was left alone in the tent. There were no servants around, but a few came in as soon as Betty exited. They were about to start fretting over the princess, offering her everything that they possibly could, but Bonnie did not want to be bothered. She dismissed the servants as if they were her own and they obeyed as they were.

The tanned princess looked around the tent. It did not have Shego's usual flare to it, but it did hold the Queen's presence. There was just an aura wrapped around the place that embraced her like the affectionate arms of her lover. The vibe of the tent was accompanied by Shego's unique scent, which kissed Bonnie with the same gentleness as her pale paramour. It all had a soothing affect on Bonnie and she finally felt at ease and safe, but she knew that she would not feel completely fine until Shego showed up.

As time ticked by, Bonnie's nerves began returning and anxiety ran through her like a stream that was growing into a river. She was bothered by the fact that Shego had not come back yet. She did not touch any of the food that was brought to her, which was brought to the attention of Betty.

"Hey, if you don't get eat, you're not going to be able to keep with Shego when she comes back," Betty pointed out as she came in the tent. She sat down opposite Bonnie on the ground since there were no spare pillows or mats around to crash on.

"Where is she?" Bonnie begged to know, unable to hide her sorrow. Her eyes were on the verge of letting loose a flood of tears. She feared the worst. What if Monty had managed to kill Shego?

"She'll be here. Calm down. Have some faith in her," Betty said in a surprisingly gentle tone. She was no fan of Bonnie's, but the princess was her friend's love, so she figured that the least she could do was try to help.

"What if…?" Bonnie did not finish her question, but Betty knew what was on her mind from the total look of despair on the princess' face.

"She's not going down by someone like Fiske. Relax. Eat your food, get yourself clean, and just wait for the sun to come up because she'll be here by then. She's eager to see you, after all," Betty assured the younger woman.

Bonnie smiled a bit hearing that news. She started eating the food while Betty just sat there for a while. After a few minutes, Betty got up to leave, having other things that she needed to do aside from baby-sitting the anxious princess. Bonnie was actually happy to see the one-eyed woman leave because she did not want to be babysat. She did follow Betty's advice, though.

She ate some of the meal, but not all of it; it was too much food for her no matter the circumstances. Right now, she was too nervous to hold much in her stomach, though. When she was done with eating, she got cleaned up.

Servants came in to scrub her down, which went by quickly since there was a chill in the night air. She dressed in a simple robe that the servants provided her with, which was actually Shego's robe. She hugged the silky cloth around her, imagining that Shego was holding her, and eased into the bed that was in the tent. She was not going to sleep, but wait for Shego somewhere that was practically drenched in her presence.

Bonnie sighed in a delight as she hit the soft mattress of the bed, which was much smaller than the Queen's bed back at the palace. Bonnie did not mind and quickly curled up with a pillow at the head of the bed while pulling the covers over her. She subconsciously nuzzled the pillow once she rested her head on it while her hands glided over the sheet underneath her. She smiled.

"Shego…" the princess whispered the name like a prayer.

Once she was settled on the bed, she waited and eventually fell asleep because she was wrapped in sheer comfort. She missed Shego's arrival because of that.

Shego did not go directly to Bonnie. She had something to take care of before checking on her hellcat, whom, she was certain, was fine anyway. After all, Betty had never let her down before; at least not when it was important.

"Hey, Director," Shego called as she walked into the camp. Her voice carried enough for her general to hear her; it helped that the second-in-command was not too far away.

"Yeah, what?" Betty replied while turning around to face their leader.

"I've got something I need you to send to a very special woman," Shego commented with a sinister smile.

"What?" the one-eyed woman asked curiously. She wondered what the Queen was going on about, but she had a feeling that someone was not going to like it from the green-skinned warrior's expression.

Shego walked over to Betty and the brown-haired general arched an eyebrow as she saw the pale woman was tugging something behind her. The Queen did not seem to have much regard for her package either, dragging whatever it was along the cold, hard rocky ground. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the something was a man, a thoroughly beaten man. Shego was pulling Fiske with her, having bound him with leather straps and easily dragged him from his own home to her camp.

Fiske had certainly seen better days, not that he was going to be seeing much of those or anything else for a while. Both of his eyes were swollen shut after taking much punishment from Shego's feet; he was lucky that she had been kind enough not to wear cleats to the little event. His face was cut and bleeding because she hit him with a lot of elbow strikes. His clothing was shredded and burned, like much of his flesh, leaving his whole body stinging like he was cut with a million paper-cuts.

At the moment, he could not use his arms. Shego had broken bones and severed nerve connections in the lord's body; hey, he stole her hellcat and she was pissed over it. One thing was certain between the two of them: Fiske would never be able to practice martial arts again. Hell, he would not be able to move without remembering her wrath and she did feel better about that, but there was still some hate in her soul, so she thought to punish him further. She was certain that her last idea in regards to the lord would lift the weight right off of her.

"I want you to get him fixed up and send him to my mother. I'm sure she'll get a kick out of seeing a guy with monkey hands and feet. She'll be trying to figure out the sorcery for weeks. It'll give her something to do and keep her off of the twins' backs," Shego remarked with a smirk. She could not think of a worse fate than being sent to her mother as a toy.

"Wow, send him to your mom, huh? Should I attach any message to this?" Betty asked, jabbing her thumb in the beaten lord's direction.

"Just tell her it's a plaything for her. She can break it if she feels like it," Shego replied quite seriously. She did not care what her mother did with man as long as it was unpleasant and she had no doubt that anything Isabel did to him would not be pleasant.

Betty laughed a bit while the Queen shoved Fiske toward the one-eyed woman. Betty took control of him, even though he did try to resist her. He was no match for the seasoned warrior in his state and he only injured himself further by yanking away from her. Betty just let him pull away from her.

"Jackass," Betty muttered as he screamed in agony from the pain that jolted through him as he tried to tear away from her grip.

Shego laughed a bit as she watched her general take him away. She was certain that her mother would have a field day with monkey-boy since her mother was the daughter of a supposed demon and witch. Her mother did have an interest in magic and such, so Fiske would be a good toy for her. Shego did doubt that Fiske was going to like being a person of interest to her mother, especially when Isabel got the little message that went along with him. She was certain that the rest of his life would be moment after moment of misery, which was just what she wanted for him.

The green-skinned woman dismissed Fiske from her mind as soon as he was out of sight. He was nothing anymore and she did not deal with nothings; the burden of hate evaporated that easily. She decided to go check on her hellcat.

She went to her tent and found Bonnie curled up in her bed, fast asleep. The Queen smiled softly to herself. The tension that had been wrapped around her body like barbed wire finally started to ease out of her now that she saw Bonnie was all right and the princess was back with her. For the moment, all was right in her world.

Shego took off her sweat-drenched clothing, was quickly and quietly cleaned up, and slid into bed. She collected Bonnie into her arms and sighed in relief when she felt the princess pressed against her. All was definitely right in her world.

She smiled softly to herself when she noticed that Bonnie was wrapped in her emerald green robe. Her kitten looked so cute, she thought. She caressed the smaller female in her arms, causing Bonnie to moan in her sleep. The younger woman cuddled into Shego's body as the tender touch made her stir.

"Hmm… Shego…" Bonnie purred in her sleep.

"I love it when she says that," the Queen muttered to herself. She leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Bonnie's mouth.

Bonnie's mind seemed to register the pressure against her lips. For a quick second, she was in a panic because she did not know who was touching her in such an intimate manner, but she somehow recognized the kiss and the caress. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled when she saw a beautiful pale face before her. She threw her arms around Shego as they halted the kiss.

"Are you all right?" the green-skinned woman inquired in a somewhat worried tone. Her eyebrows were turned up slight because of her concern.

"I'm fine," Bonnie assured the Queen, making sure to keep eye contact to drive home that her words were true.

Shego just sighed, relieved to hear those words from her hellcat. She turned to where she was lying on her back and pulled Bonnie with her. Bonnie was now using Shego as a mattress. The princess was glad with the new resting place, especially since she was able to feel Shego's heart beating against her own. The rhythm seemed to confirm that she was not dreaming and that Shego was alive, well, and with her again. Shego felt the same way.

Having Bonnie pressed against her was enough to make Shego never want to get out of bed again. Caressing the princess' body, even if the robe was in the way, was enough to make her never want to stop. She dared to wonder how she ever lived without Bonnie. In the past such a thought might have bothered her, but since she had just had to spend so much time without her hellcat, she allowed the thought to drift through her mind at its leisure.

They looked at each other while Shego's hands remained around Bonnie, holding her securely. Bonnie kept her arms around Shego and occasionally rubbed the Queen's shoulders. They were silent for a while, just enjoying being together again. Eventually, the silence was broken, though.

"So, hellcat, what are you going to do?" Shego asked curiously, speaking in a whisper almost as if she was scared that anything louder would drive the younger woman away.

Bonnie's face scrunched up from confusion. "What do you mean?" she countered in a perplexed tone. Was she not staying with Shego? After all, the Queen had rescued her.

"Well, I'm marching west. Are you going to stay with me or go back home?" the pale woman inquired.

"Home?" Bonnie echoed, her face still laced with bemusement. Which "home" was Shego referring to? Was Shego willing to send her back to her father, who would undoubtedly pull a similar stunt to the one that just happened?

"Yeah, you can wait for me at home. I'm sure Tara would like to see you again considering how shaken she was when you got pulled from the palace. You can spend my money while I go make some more," Shego remarked with a forced laugh.

Bonnie sighed in relief as she realized that Shego was talking about going back to her palace. Apparently, Shego considered her home Bonnie's home. It would seem that she was staying with Shego. She probably would have put up a fuss if only she was not so happy with that and was not even looking to kid around about it. But, now, she had to decide if she wanted to be with Shego through out an undoubtedly bloody war of conquest, or if she wanted to go back into the Empire and spend up Shego's money with Tara. Going back to the Empire would also mean worrying about what was happening with Shego.

Shego would prefer that Bonnie was by her side, at least for the current campaign. She just wanted the princess to be there with her to settle her body and mind. Bonnie's presence would bring her comfort, letting her know that she had retrieved her kitten and no one else was going to be taking Bonnie from her.

"I'm going to stay with you," the princess answered.

Shego smiled a bit and sat up a little to give Bonnie a deep kiss because of her approval with that plan. It was right then that Shego was willing to admit to herself that Betty was right; she was in love. She was in love with Bonnie and she could not let the princess go.

The Queen could not believe it. What had started out as amusement toward Bonnie's attitude and behavior had grown into something so deep that she would easily give her life for the tanned young woman. She would punish anyone mercilessly for trying to take Bonnie away from her. She would feel lost if she did not have Bonnie anymore. She did not know why that was, but the reason was moot in her opinion. It was the truth and the truth was what mattered.

"Bonnie…" Shego said in a serious tone as they pulled away from each other.

Bonnie was a bit shocked to hear her actual name come from the Queen's mouth. It instantly made her nervous because it was something that never happened before. Her brow wrinkled with some worry.

"Yeah?" Bonnie asked, forcing her voice to remain steady for that simple response.

"I love you," Shego said plainly, as if it was any other statement that she might make. She could not believe how right it felt to say those words. They came out easier than she imagined, stronger than she thought they would, and they were perfectly true.

Bonnie's heart seemed to stop while her brain dared to think that she heard Shego wrong. There was no way that a person like Shego would so easily and openly declare love, right? Bonnie knew that she would never be able to do such a thing and she liked to think that her attitude was similar to Shego's, making it seem like Shego would not do such a thing. So, yeah, her mind decided to stick with the plan that she had heard wrong. Besides, she was pretty sure that no one ever loved her in all of her life and she did not see why that would change.

Shego was confused when she did not get a response. She watched as Bonnie's features twisted, which let her in on the fact that Bonnie was puzzled with what was going on. Shego was not quite sure what it was that bewildered Bonnie, but she started rubbing Bonnie's sides to ease that confusion from the princess.

"I love you," Shego repeated after a few silent seconds. The words came out just as strongly as before, just as easily, so she knew that she could say them whenever necessary, but she wanted some kind of response when she said them.

Bonnie's heart felt like it stopped again. Could she have really heard wrong twice? Maybe it was because she wanted to hear such a thing so badly that she was having auditory hallucinations. It would feel good to be loved, her mind commented. Her eyes began to tear up as she realized how desperately she wanted to hear such a statement, especially from Shego.

"What the hell? Why are you crying, kitten?" Shego asked with concern, moving one hand from the princess' body to wipe away the tears.

"I'm not crying," Bonnie replied, even though it was quite clear that there were tears rolling down her eyes. She had not seriously wept in years and she refused to acknowledge that she was doing so right now because she thought it just meant that she was weak. While she might not have been a warrior, she did believe in having strength and not showing that someone was able to get to her, unless of course she was showing it through anger.

Shego ran a finger across Bonnie's cheek to wipe away the tears. "No? Then what are these?"

"Okay, fine, so I'm crying. Big damn deal," Bonnie huffed while wiping her tears away with the heel of her palm.

"Why?" the pale woman inquired, trying to hide her confusion.

"Because no one's ever told me they love me before and it would be great if you were the first one," Bonnie answered honestly, too caught up in the emotional wave crashing inside of her to realize just what she was saying.

"Um…kitten, if no one's ever told you that before and I just said it, wouldn't that make me the first one?" Shego asked in a bewildered tone.

"I keep thinking you said it, but I know you didn't."

"Okay, you're not making any sense. I just said I love you. What the hell? How else plainly can I put it? I…" Shego paused and kissed the weeping princess. "Love…" She kissed Bonnie again. "You." One last passionate kiss.

"You love me?" Bonnie asked as if she could not believe it. Her eyes seemed to shimmer from her own confusion. Someone loved her? She never thought that it was possible.

"I'm not here just because I like being bitched at, I can tell you that much," the Queen remarked.

Bonnie's bottom lip began to tremble and she broke down, bawling like a newborn child. Shego was so perplexed, thinking that after the explanation, Bonnie would stop crying. Bonnie collapsed onto the Queen and continued on weeping. Shego embraced the princess and held her tightly. Bonnie shook in her arms, which just made her hold the younger woman firmer.

"What's the matter now?" Shego inquired, sounding gentle, but quite puzzled. She did note that it was a testament to her love that she had not lost her patience yet; she certainly would not have tolerated such behavior from anyone else, especially someone close to her.

"Nobody…nobody…" Bonnie blubbered, shaking her head into Shego's collar bone as she tried to get out her answer. Her tears were soaking the Queen and Shego probably would have felt chilly if she was not so hot-blooded.

"Nobody?" Shego tried to prompt Bonnie to continue.

"Nobody's ever said such wonderful words to me. And even if they did, I'm sure they would've been lying," Bonnie explained.

"You think I'm lying?" Shego asked, not sure if she wanted to be furious or incredulous. She would never sling those words around if she did not mean them.

"NO! I believe you!" Bonnie answered vehemently as she looked up at her lover. Her face was stained from her tears, her eyes were wide from emotion, and her nose was running most unattractively, but she could not help it her appearance. Her action of looking the Queen in the face did help her response's credibility.

"Um…okay, then what's wrong?" Shego's eyes squinted and her eyebrows bent inward as she tried to figure out why her hellcat was bawling. She also reached for a blanket that they were not going to be using now that she was there and she used it to wipe Bonnie's face.

Bonnie shook her head, but Shego was not looking to accept that. As she cleaned off the princess' face, she gently pressed for an explanation. Bonnie waited until she was calm to even try talking again. She situated herself back against the Queen.

"You're the first person to ever love me. I mean, to where I can tell that you really do love me. I've never gotten that before from anyone. It's a little overwhelming," Bonnie explained as best she could.

Shego was silent for a moment. She could not relate to Bonnie's feeling in that matter. She did not know what it felt like to be unloved. She came from a loving family with parents that genuinely cared about her, but she could tell that Bonnie had never experienced such a thing.

Bonnie did not come from a loving family in her opinion. She was a tool to her father, just like her sisters were. Her sisters were jerks; she never figured out why. Her mother was annoying and she was not even sure if her mother loved her. Her mother never said such words to her and never offered her comforting embraces. She had grown up devoid of the emotion that Shego gave her, so she really did not know what it was.

"Let me know when it stops being overwhelming," the warrior queen said.

"I hope it never stops," Bonnie commented honestly in a low, passionate tone.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you keep the sex coming and I'll keep loving you," the Queen remarked, a half-smirk gracing her smooth features.

"Shego," Bonnie huffed and she pinched the monarch in the side.

"Ow!" the pale woman complained and she flinched, even though it did not actually hurt. She smiled a bit.

"You were being so sweet and you just had to ruin it," the tanned female griped.

Shego chuckled and moved her hands up and down Bonnie's back for a moment. "I'm sorry it took me this long to figure it out," she muttered.

"At least you figured it out and admitted it. I never thought you'd admit something like this."

"Me neither, but…" Shego sighed and looked away for a moment. "Having you taken away from me…I just didn't like it. I don't like you not being here."

Bonnie nodded. "I didn't like being away. I missed you…a lot," she confessed.

"Well, you don't have to miss me now. I'm not letting you go again."

"That's good to know. I wonder if everything I felt, how bad everything hurt from being away from you…was it because of love?" Bonnie asked seriously. She was not sure what love was, so she did not know if the ocean of emotions that she felt involving Shego, be it being with the Queen or away from the Queen, meant that she was in love with Shego.

"You mean, you don't know?" Shego asked as if she thought such a thing was impossible. She had gone and put her whole being on the line by admitting that she loved Bonnie. She would like to get something equal in return for that to know that she was not a tool for Bonnie.

"I don't. I've never felt this way before. I love being around you, with you. It hurts when we're apart. I've never felt like I was completely safe until I was with you. I trust you with my life. I trust you point blank. I really feel like you'd never hurt me and I want you to trust me like that. I want to make you feel as great as you make me feel. I mean, I can't tell you how great it feels being with you and knowing you like me just for being me. It feels so good that it's scary sometimes and I get nervous that I might lose this. I don't know how you make me feel this intensely, but I want to make you feel the same way," Bonnie replied in a low, sincere tone.

Shego nodded. "Sounds like it might be love."

"I'd like to think it is. I love you," Bonnie finally said with conviction. She was pretty certain that everything that she felt toward the pale woman had to be love.

Shego smiled because of the words and the strength that Bonnie said them. They both leaned in at the same time to kiss each other. The kiss that they shared was deep and passionate. Their tongues met and caressed each other, causing them both to moan. They rubbed their bodies against each other and it was then that Shego thought to push her robe from Bonnie's form. Their bare skin came into contact as they pulled away from each other's mouth to take in some air.

"I love you," Bonnie said again while panting and looking Shego dead in the eye.

"I love you too," Shego said before attacking again, going at Bonnie's neck with her mouth. The princess hissed in pleasure. The sound sparked something in Shego's mind and she began to roll over, so that Bonnie would be underneath her.

"Wait," Bonnie muttered, somewhat halting their action.

"Hmm?" Shego asked, not pulling her mouth away from the sweet, tempting tanned flesh.

"I want to stay on top," Bonnie said in a clear voice. Every time that they were together, she was underneath Shego and never really got a chance to do much aside for kissing and caressing.

Shego chuckled and smiled. "Why? You wouldn't know what to do if I left you where you are." She licked the throat on display for her.

A light moan echoed through the tent. "Give me a chance."

"Why?"

"Because you love me."

Shego smiled and shrugged. "Well, you got me there."

Bonnie grinned and leaned in for a delicious, gentle kiss, which Shego returned. They could not help moaning into each other's mouths and they liked the feel of swallowing each other's sounds. Their tongues battled each other, looking to dominate each other. Their bodies moved against each other, their skin never seemed to feel enough of the other.

The Queen did not move from where she was as they continued on with their loving dance. It was the first time that she ever laid still for a lover when she actually wanted to be in control. In the past, there had been occasions where she just did not feel like doing anything and expected the lover to do everything to bring her to the point of ecstasy, but even then, she was the one that dictated what happened. At the moment, she was going to give Bonnie free reign and she would not give any orders, but she might make a couple of demands.

Bonnie appreciated the fact that the Queen allowed her to be in control because now she wanted to work on returning all of the pleasant feelings that Shego gave her. She wanted to be able to do to Shego what Shego did to her. She wanted to show her love physically.

Shego let the younger woman work, guiding her if necessary, but the most part just letting Bonnie go through things on her own. Since they planned to be together for as long as their love lasted, which felt like it would be forever, Bonnie did need to learn to give as good as she got, they both figured. They might as well start now, even though they were not sure when the next lesson would take place since Shego was going to war.

Bonnie was very slow through out the night and it was slight torture for Shego, but she still did not waver from her position. As the sun crept into the sky, trying to shine on the barren land of the north, Bonnie settled in on top of Shego for some sleep. They both drifted off, muttering "I love you" to each other before slipping into oblivion.

* * *

Ron and Kim stood on a balcony that overlooked the city-state of Middleton. The battle was pretty much over, but there were a few scraps still going on in the streets. The place belonged to them, or well, it belonged to Shego anyway. Mission accomplished, Ron thought. So, why the hell did Kim look so distraught about things?

"K.P, we totally won, so why aren't we celebrating?" Ron asked curiously. The frown that was marring Kim's lovely face only deepened.

"He got away," Kim grumbled. She had failed to catch Governor Barkin. She had failed in her mission. It was a first, a first that she did not want any part of.

"Who got away?" Ron asked curiously while putting his arms around her waist, hoping to comfort her in someway.

Kim waved his question off, but she did not pull away from his strong embrace. She did not want to talk about the secret mission that she obviously screwed up. Damn it, he was right there and she just let him slip right through her fingers! Okay, that thought ruined the moment for her.

"I'm going to send word to Shego that we're done with this and Middleton is ours. You and Will make sure everything's going fine," Kim said as she walked off into the manor.

Ron watched her leave and wondered what was bothering her. She never seemed so sour when they had things to do. He guessed that she just wished the battle lasted a bit longer or something. He sighed and just went to find Will to make sure that they kept it together until Shego and Betty showed up. Once they arrived, he figured that he would find out just what was wrong with Kim.

* * *

Next time: Shego, Bonnie, and Betty arrive in Middleton while Barkin manages to go get some assistance.


	21. Dark clouds

I don't own these characters.

21: Dark clouds

Betty could already see trouble on the horizon with the way that they started their current campaign. She believed that Shego could see it too, but the Queen was going to ignore it until it absolutely demanded her attention. The fire-starting monarch was too busy being happy and content from having her beloved back by her side, so anything that was not ten feet tall and standing right in her path was not on her mind. Betty could understand that, but she did not think it was appropriate. Shego needed to get her head back in the game and she needed to do it quickly in her top general's opinion.

They had left that piece of dead land in the north without a ruler, for the most part. Fiske was on his way to the heart of the Goh Empire and he did not seem to have an heir. No one stepped up to claim the throne before they left. The land was open for business in Director's opinion; it was there for someone to try to take it now.

There were barbarian tribes up there that would undoubtedly be looking for a piece of the free real estate; Shego had only halfway staked a claim on the land, leaving a few soldiers behind to police the area. She did not seem too interested in anything at all, except touching and watching her lover anyway. Betty was a little surprised that it even crossed the Queen's mind to leave a few soldiers. The soldiers would hopefully be able to hold off the barbarians if they decide to act up…and Betty was fairly certain those tribes would act up as soon as the feared demon Queen of the Gohs was out of sight.

The warfare was going to bother Hego, since it was so close to his kingdom. Sure, there was a large body of water, actually, an in-land sea, that separated his eastern kingdom from the soon-to-be chaos of the West, but Hego was still going to complain about it. He did not like fighting at all anywhere near his kingdom, after all. He could trip them up in case they needed some assistance, which Betty thought would be a given if they wanted to keep Fiske's junky piece of so-called land. Hego would never help, even his sister…or maybe _especially_ his sister since he did not agree with her outlook on life.

On a good note, they had gotten word that the sack on Middleton had gone well, which had been expected considering the people that were left to handle that. Unfortunately, there were other city-states and kingdoms mobilizing their forces now it was known that Middleton had fallen to the Gohs. And then, of course, there was that unfortunate loose end.

Kim had sent word that Barkin had slipped through her fingers. Betty had read the report, but had not shown Shego because the Queen was always around Bonnie. She doubted that Bonnie would be terribly enthused by the idea that Kim had been given the assignment to go after her father, especially if Shego supplied Bonnie with the information of some of the things that Kim did in times of war.

Betty could tell from the communication that Kim was upset with failing to get Barkin; there were certain words that the "princess" used when she was angry. The redhead even requested to track him on her own and promised to get him that time. Betty quickly sent word back, telling Kim to keep her energetic ass where it was. They could not afford to lose her now that they were pretty much right where they wanted to be. She knew that Kim was not going to be happy to get those orders. She did not care, though; someone had to keep her mind on the things that counted, Betty believed.

* * *

Former governor of Middleton Steve Barkin had made a narrow escape from Kim, believing that she was an assassin that Shego had sent for him. He could only wonder why Shego had sent the assassin to him and why she had attacked his city. He could have sworn that they had an agreement, which he was planning to break; of course, he did not know that she was aware of that. In his opinion, she broke it first, which, of course, did not surprise him.

"Filthy, lying barbarian bitch," Barkin complained bitterly to the air as he rode a horse to his son-in-law's kingdom, knowing that he would be granted sanctuary. His face was tense, his jaw tight to the point where it was surprising that his teeth did not crack under the pressure.

He should have known better than to trust a barbarian, he grumbled to himself. He kicked himself mentally for ever thinking that a barbarian might keep her word. He mentally scolded himself; he should have known better!

He could only imagine what those barbarians were doing to his home, his city, and his people. They were undoubtedly ruining everything: plundering whatever piece of property they could get their hands on and raping anything with legs; he would not put such a thing past those mangy barbarians. He could practically see them bathing in the blood of his citizens, grilling his people's flesh for their uncultured victory feast.

"Damn them," Barkin cursed the Goh raiders, sneering viciously as he spoke. He would make them pay for whatever they did to his city-state. He would make them pay as soon as he made it to safety.

He did hope that no one was following him; he had been in such a hurry when he left that he did not think about covering his tracks. He needed time to make it to his son-in-law's home. He was not sure if anyone escaped Middleton to make it to an allied nation to inform them of the situation, so he did not know if his son-in-laws knew that they needed to mobilize their armies. He was going to send word to his other son-in-laws as soon as he was safe, just to make sure they both knew what was going.

He was actually unaware that Fiske was beaten and on his way into the stomach of the Goh Empire as a gift to the Empress. He did not even think about what might have become of Bonnie. His chief concern was himself and getting his city-state back. To that, he was going to need the help of his sons-in-law, not his daughters, so they were far from his mind.

By the time he made it to the nearest friendly kingdom, which was his son-in-law's land, his horse was ready to die from exhaustion. He did not care and left the creature at the might gates to pass on. The walls of the city were impressive, seeming to stretch from the sky and shined in the sun as there were precious metals and stones placed all about the walls. There were rich mythological scenes painted on the defensive gates, but Barkin did not take in the magnificent images. He merely marched up to the front gate as if he was in charge.

The guards were shocked at the gall of the man who had only just arrived and was, now, attempting, to march into the capital city. The guards could not help staring at Barkin for a few seconds in sheer disbelief. What in the hell was the matter with him, they all wondered. Did he not know the proper way to enter a city? They doubted he was that stupid.

"Hold on, sir," a large guard said to Barkin, putting his hand on the former governor's chest to halt him.

"Hold on? Don't you know who I am?" Barkin demanded to know while slapping the offending hand from his noble form. He glared at the lowly guard as if he was trying to kill the sentry with his gaze.

"Obviously not. So, identify yourself," the guard ordered with a frown. He was not in the mood to be talked down to by a stranger.

"I'm Steve Barkin! The Governor of Middleton!" he hollered at the top his lungs, his face going red. He made tight fists as he screamed, as if he was ready to fight with the sentries.

The guards continued to hold Barkin off until they could verify his identity. Barkin only became more hostile during the time that he was kept waiting by mere underlings. He did nothing but cast them all dirty and haughty looks as they escorted him to the palace when they were certain he was who he said he was. They ignored him.

The palace was an elaborate group of buildings, rather than being one center structure. There were open halls with white columns and the walls were white around the whole place. The white walls showed off the precious metals and gems better than a color would have. The white also worked in directing attention to any pieces of art that were on the walls, which there was plenty of.

Sandals clicked loudly against the tiled floors; mosaics appeared to be any and everywhere a person could walk in the palace, except for the gardens anyway. Small tunnels that acted as vents to circulate air if the wind was blowing caused their flowing garbs to swish as they moved. The air continued to blow as they made their way into the main chamber of the main building.

Barkin was not greeted by his son-in-law, but by his son-in-law's father, Señor Senior Senior. The old man was still the active king of the land, even though it was considered a miracle that he was still alive. He still had all of his wits about him despite the fact that some people considered with his age that he had lived two lifetimes. His long life and excellent mind did make many people believe that he was favored by the gods, which kept them supportive of their king.

Senior walked with a cane, but most people knew that it was more for an image than because he needed the extra support. His hair had gone white on the sides, but was still a healthy brown up top. His skin tone was still an enriched tan, smooth and clear. Some people actually believed that he might have stopped aging years ago because he had not changed as far as appearance went in years; another sign that the gods had to favor their king. None of his citizens would complain, knowing that he was a much better ruler than the heir to the throne.

"Governor Barkin, hello," Senior greeted the large man with an accent that was common in the southern nations of the West. He wore rich robes of crimson and gold along with a golden diadem around his head.

"Senior, you need to mobilize your army now. The Gohs are in the West and they're marching this way undoubtedly. They've already sacked Middleton," Barkin informed the elderly gentleman as if his words were the only thing important on the planet.

Senior's facial expression did not even change, but he did put his hand to his chin. He chose to ignore Barkin's rudeness and disrespect because of the mention of the Gohs. He knew how serious the Gohs were, after all.

"Oh, my, now that is a problem," the elderly king muttered, rubbing his chin in thought with one hand. He had not anticipated ever actually having to fight the Gohs, even though he had crafted an alliance with Barkin through their children's marriage; the marriage had taken place years ago, though. He did knew that the Gohs were marching West, but he did not think that they would impact him so directly so quickly. He did not know about the double-cross that Barkin had planned on Shego either.

"Of course it's a problem! They sacked Middleton! It was a midnight assault. We never stood a chance," Barkin pointed out, practically yelling at the king while throwing his hands out to the side in frustration that the old man was stating the obvious.

"I can imagine," Senior commented dryly. The Goh army was reportedly at least a hundred thousand strong. He doubted that Middleton even had a hundred thousand people living in it, so of course their army would not be that big. He did wonder if those were accurate numbers; it was a bit frightening if they were.

"So you need to mobilize your army and we need to send word to Fiske and Ed," Barkin proposed while emphasizing his stance by pointing down at the floor with both hands while speaking.

"I'll get to it right now. We'll take these barbarians as they come near. We'll set up on the high ground and then outflank them," Senior commented, speaking more to himself than his guest. He was trying to plan the battle out in his head, figuring that they would be at the advantage in more ways than one if they approached the battle properly and with patience.

"You need to start now!" Barkin hollered. He wanted his city-state back as soon as possible.

"You need to calm down. I'll take care of this as _I_ see fit, as you're here as a guest," Senior pointed out, keeping his composer despite his "guest's" rudeness. It was his army and his staff, so he would use them as he desired. He was not about to take orders from some blow-hard that just lost his own nation, even if that blow-hard was a relative of his daughter-in-law. He had not kept a hold on his own kingdom for so long by letting hot-headed jackasses dictate his actions, and he surely was not about to start now.

Barkin frowned deeply since he knew that he was pretty much being dismissed. He could not do much about it…for now. He was going to go relax for a moment, but then he was going to be back in Senior's face, telling him what they needed to do to get ready for war with those Goh barbarians.

* * *

Bonnie was surprised to find that Shego and her small piece of the army were going into Middleton. For a moment, she actually feared that she was being taken back to her father, but then her mind realized how ridiculous that was. Why would Shego take her back to her father after declaring love for her? The question remained, what were they doing in Middleton?

Bonnie understood what they were doing there when she saw the state of the city's walls. The walls were being repaired, but it was clear that they had been breached recently. The city had been attacked. Shego had managed to take Middleton while saving her; Bonnie could hardly believe it.

They went straight to the Governor's mansion, which was where the top soldiers of the Goh army had taken up residency. Shego scouted the mansion briefly, looking for a room that fit her liking to set up her command center in. Once she found that room, which was a large hall with a fountain in it, she had people put up a temporary throne for her. With that out of the way, the Queen released everyone to go get cleaned up and rested, which almost got cheers.

"You want me to come back later on?" Betty asked Shego curiously. She wanted time off just as badly as the other soldiers. There was a certain engineer that required her attention, after all.

"I'll send someone for you. Right now, let's just cool down, relax. You know you want to. After all, we're going to be busy soon enough," Shego replied in an almost dismissive tone.

Betty nodded; it seemed that Shego was on the ball despite the fact that she was utterly gushing over Bonnie. Shego did know that they had a long road ahead of them thanks to her little detour for her hellcat. She did not care; she did not think anything could take down her army anyway. They might hit a few snags thanks to the trouble that they started in the north, but nothing more than that in her opinion.

Betty walked off to go get cleaned off, and of course, go find that certain engineer to help her relax. She had to suppress a smile, thinking about Vivian. When out on campaign, it was rare that they got a chance to spend a decent amount of time together, so she was going to take whatever she could get.

Shego and Bonnie also decided to get cleaned off. There were servants around that gawked at Bonnie when they saw her with the Queen. Bonnie ignored them, shamelessly cuddling up to Shego whenever she got the chance even before they got into the bath.

"Are my parents around here?" Bonnie asked Shego as they lounged in a hot bath. The princess was lying on the pale woman. She did not sound concerned, but she did seem a bit curious, which explained the question.

"I actually don't know. They should be. When we're done, I'll get Kimmie to get us up to speed on what's going on around here," Shego replied. She had very little clue as to what was going on in Middleton because she did not feel the need to know everything yet. She put her sister in charge and she knew that Kim was very capable; that was enough for her right now.

Bonnie nodded. She was not nervous about her parents being around and seeing her with Shego. Hell, if her parents were around, she was certain that the servants that had noticed her were off telling her parents just exactly what she was doing right now. It did not matter to her because she was with Shego and she knew that the green-skinned monarch was not going to let her go. After all, Shego had rescued her from that brooding monkey man that her father had forced her to marry and the Queen had proclaimed her love for Bonnie.

After getting cleaned up and getting some food, Shego went to her temporary throne. Bonnie stayed by her side because she did not have anything better to do. She did not have any friends to see around Middleton, after all. Besides, she was happy to be with her lover and could not get enough of Shego's presence, which was good because Shego wanted her little hellcat around her at all times.

Once they were set up on the throne, Shego called for Kim. The redhead moped into the temporary throne room, dragging her feet, making it seem like she had two ton bricks chained to her back. Shego was stunned by the way that Kim trudged into her presence. She had never seen her adopted sister look so defeated, not even when she kicked Kim's butt.

"Kimmie, what's with the look? Middleton's yours, we're about to take the West by storm, and you're going to undoubtedly do a billion crazy things while we do it. So, what's with that face?" Shego asked curiously. She was so close to concerned that she might even admit to herself that her sister's expression worried her.

"What do you mean? Don't you know what happened?" Kim countered incredulously, an eyebrow arched high on her forehead.

"Um…no," Shego answered. What the hell happened? She bet it was something that Director withheld from her to, more than likely, maintain her good mood. "Why don't you tell me what happened," she suggested.

"I let that big ape Barkin get away!" Kim practically wailed. She threw her hands up, reaching for the ceiling, before dropping them to her sides in despair.

"You sent her after my father?" Bonnie asked in disbelief, gently grabbing her lover's arm. She could guess some of the things that Kim did for the Queen, despite the fact that Kim's job was never openly outlined.

The princess was a bit shocked by the fact that some emotion went through her as she learned that Kim was sent after her father. The guy was a jerk, but she did not want to lose him like that. She definitely did not want him to be assassinated.

"Calm down, kitten. Princess was supposed to capture him, so I could keep an eye on the jackass and that's it," Shego explained, wrapping her arm around Bonnie to comfort her.

"Really?" Bonnie asked to be sure.

"Yeah, I'd rather keep an eye on him to make sure that he can't do anything else against me and he can't use you anymore. I wasn't going to have Kimmie kill your father," the Queen answered in a gentle tone. She knew what it was like to lose a father to nature, so she damn sure was not going to subject her kitten to that, especially through a murder. She was not trying to make it a habit to cause her lover any grief either.

"I couldn't even get a hand on him. All of these damn guards came out of nowhere and he slipped right through my fingers! I was going to go after him, but Betty told me to stay put," Kim groaned. She walked around in a small circle for no reason other than the fact that she was utterly frustrated.

"She was right to tell you that. We don't need you wandering around right now. We've got to stick together and get this done properly. There's a lot that could go wrong now," Shego pointed out. She was glad Betty talked some sense into her hyperactive, sometimes impulsive little sister.

"Fine!" Kim huffed, upset because Shego was sticking by Betty's orders. She folded her arms across her chest and stomped her foot, but that did not do anything since Kim did not wear footwear; after all, shoes could interfere with her stealth movements.

Shego rolled her eyes and dismissed her frustrated little sister for the moment; Kim could throw as many tantrums as she wanted and whine until she was blue in the face, but that was not going to change anything. The Queen turned her attention to the princess curled in her arms. It was then that she realized that Bonnie had not said anything about her taking over her home city.

"Um…kitten, is there anyone you want to see or any place you want to go while you're here?" Shego asked curiously. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, her little sister wisely taking the hint and leaving the room.

"I'm fine where I am," Bonnie answered, snuggling closer into the older female.

"Are you sure?"

Bonnie nodded. "Uh-huh."

Shego did not argue with her lover. She figured that if she did something that Bonnie was not in favor of, the younger woman would speak up, just like she did about Kim going after her father. So, after a few hours of letting everyone rest up, Shego started going about regular business.

Betty handled any reports that came in while Shego went about getting people in order that she was going to leave in charge when she marched out in due time. Will Du was commended for his outstanding job; Shego knew that a little bit of praise did wonders for the boy's ego. He was then put in charge of rounding up Middleton's now ex-officials and locking them away until everything was settled. Kim and Ron were in charge of the cleanup and getting the chaos out of the street to make sure city life went on as usual. They also handled propaganda while they were out there, spreading the word of how much fame and fortune was to be had by joining Shego's army. Most of the troops helped in that effort since they believed it to be the truth.

During the night, a small group got together to plan battle strategy and how they were going to go about going deeper into the West. The usual extra people were in the meeting: Kim, Ron, and now, Will. Will was surprised that he was allowed into the framing stage since it was not normal for him to be included. Apparently, he was moving up in the world, he thought.

Bonnie was there too, even though she was not really going to participate in the planning. It was just that the meeting was taking place during dinner time. She was there for the food, and for the Shego, whom she was leaning against.

"All right, so, what do we got, Betty?" Shego asked.

"Bad news and worse news," Betty answered while looking through all of the documents that had just come in from spies.

"Well, give me the bad news first," the Queen requested. There was no reason that she asked for that news first since she figured both pieces of news would upset her.

"Well, none of our enemies know that Fiske is out of the picture yet, but those barbarians up north are going nuts with the fact that he's gone. We might need to send more soldiers up there," the one-eyed woman replied.

Shego nodded. "That is pretty bad. What's worse than that?"

"Barkin made it to the Seniors and they knew we've got Middleton. They're getting troops ready, so they're likely to meet us on the battlefield. They've also gotten into contact with Ed Lipsky, who supposedly has the finest chariot forces in the West," Betty reported.

"How many men?" Shego asked, keeping her calm.

"Right now…more than us considering the split we've got," Betty answered. They had left some forces up north, after all.

"Damn it. All right. That's all right. We've just got to pick the perfect battlefield," the Queen said with confidence. Her staff nodded in agreement with that.

The planning was interrupted minutes later by some guards. They were holding a small woman, who was struggling against them. The Queen and others looked up to see what was going on.

"We found her hiding in a crawlspace," one guard reported.

"Well, who the hell is she?" Shego inquired with a puzzled look on her face.

"Mom?" Bonnie said when she took a good look at the captured woman.

"Bon-bon?" the woman asked in a peppy tone as she picked her head up to look at the people in the room. She got a good look at her daughter curled up against the Queen.

"Mom, don't call me that!" Bonnie huffed while turning her mouth up in anger.

"Oh, I've got to remember that one. Bon-bon and Kimmie," Shego muttered, earning heated looks from both her lover and her sister. She only smiled, looking like a demonic shark.

"Let my mom go," Bonnie told the guards.

It was understood that Bonnie's word was almost on the same level as Kim or Betty, so the guards released her mother. They knew that they did the right thing since Shego did not object. They stood there for a moment before the Queen dismissed them.

"Bonnie, what are you doing with these barbarians?" her mother inquired, keeping her distance from the group. She was dressed in a rich, flowing tunic that was dirty from hiding in a crawlspace; she had been there since word of the attack reached the palace.

"She picks ticks off of our backs," Shego remarked sarcastically while climbing to her feet. She approached Bonnie's mother, earning curious looks from everyone with her.

Bonnie's mother had the good sense to look scared. She sort of shrank back as Shego drew closer, but she knew not to run. Shego stood before her and smiled.

"Do you really want to know what your daughter is going with us?" Shego asked with a devilish smirk on her face.

Bonnie's mother gulped. "You're holding her captive, aren't you?" she guessed in a trembling voice.

Shego laughed. "Nothing of the sort." She looked over her shoulder at Bonnie to see her expression. She did not look like she objected, so Shego continued on. "Your daughter is with us because she's mine," the Queen stated.

Bonnie's mother's looked confused. Her brow wrinkled as her eyes narrowed while she tried to figure out what the barbarian woman was telling her. "Yours?" she finally asked.

"Mine. My little hellcat. My woman," Shego elaborated in a deliberate tone.

Bonnie's mother still was not following. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. Just know that Bonnie's mine now, so that sort of makes us family," Shego remarked while throwing an arm around the older woman's shoulders; the older woman tensed immediately, but her reaction was ignored. The green-skinned warrior then turned to look at Bonnie. "Kitten, is your mom going to be any trouble?" she asked with a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

"I don't think so," Bonnie answered, shaking her head a little. She did not think that her mother was smart enough to be any trouble to Shego.

"Good to know. I'm going to put her under house arrest just to keep her out of our hair," Shego announced.

Bonnie shrugged. She figured that it made sense, and really, she was not going to stick up for her mother if the woman was just being put under house arrest. Her mother did not stick up for her when her father sent her into the Goh Empire as a hostage. Her mother also did not stick up for her when her father forced her to marry Monty Fiske, so she did not see the point in sticking up for her mother right now. It was not like her mother was going to go through the same trauma as she had.

"She'll be fine," Shego assured her lover to let Bonnie know that she was right in assuming that nothing bad was going to happen to her mother. Shego just wanted the woman out of the way for the moment since the Queen had a lot of things on her mind. She wanted to make sure she did not have to worry about any of the defeated citizens, like Bonnie's mother, bothering her.

"Okay," Bonnie replied just to show that she was listening to the Queen.

Once Bonnie's mother was secured in some apartments inside of the mansion and there were soldiers and servants keeping an eye on her, the meeting continued on. They were trying to figure out where the best place would be to meet Senior's army. They knew that Senior always picked a place that he thought would be ideal for him in order to keep the high ground. They had a plan to get them away from the high ground, but they also needed to figure out the best place to neutralize Ed's chariots, knowing that he was going to be in the battle.

* * *

Senior sighed as he got word about what happened to the final member of their alliance. Fiske was gone, disappeared into the bowels of the Goh Empire as far as he knew. He really was ready to just mark the northern lord off as a dead man.

That was going to make things a bit tougher on them, the King thought, but then again he got news that there were Goh soldiers up north having trouble with some of those other barbarians. It would seem that Shego's army was not up to its usual standards. Well, that would definitely work to their advantage, he thought.

He did hope that Shego started marching toward him soon because he wanted to get the battle out of the way. He did not like dealing with Ed, who was married to Barkin's daughter Lonnie, putting him in the alliance through marriage just like Senior was since his son was married to Barkin's daughter Connie. He also did not like dealing with Barkin point blank, but he was a man of his word. There was also the fact that he liked his daughter-in-law, so he was willing to help her father.

Senior liked Connie because she was good at motivating his son. Now, he was not a fan of her at first because he was used to things just being him and his son, but he had gotten used to her. She was trying to get Junior on the ball now, not enjoying that she was married to an unmotivated spoiled brat; although she was a spoiled brat in her own right. She was just a spoiled brat with a brain and some goals, which she was going to beat into Junior if necessary.

"Senior, when are you moving out?" Barkin demanded to know as he burst into the room when Senior was trying to take care of some other business that he needed to handle. It was things like that that annoyed Senior to no end.

Barkin seemed to be under the impression that his main priority was Senior's main priority. It was getting on the King's nerves, especially since Barkin seemed to lack any and all manners now that he was a leader in exile. The sooner that he could get the governor out of his hair, the better as far as he was concerned. So, he really needed to hear word on the Goh army being on the move, or else he was going to go out of his mind.

"Governor Barkin, I've got the situation in hand. If you please," Senior said with forced politeness.

"You need to get moving," Barkin pointed out in a harsh tone, making a violent sweeping motion with his hand.

"I've got the situation in hand," Senior replied through gritted teeth. To think, when the fighting did start, he was going to have to deal with Barkin and Ed. He was starting to think that he might just surrender and cut a deal with Shego. But then again, he could not trust a barbarian to keep her word. It seemed like he was just in something that he wished he could get out of. The best thing that he could do, in his opinion, was defeat the Goh army and beat them back into the East to get Barkin's city back and be rid of him. He just needed to wait for Shego to make a move.

* * *

Next time: The Gohs versus the Seniors, Barkin, and Ed.


	22. Fire and brimstone

I don't own these characters. Disney does.

22: Fire and brimstone

"We're outnumbered," Kim muttered while shaking her head. She was sitting with her legs folded underneath her and her arms were folded across her chest.

"Most of our machines are for hitting cities, not open combat," Betty mumbled, rubbing her chin as if that would help her think. She knew there was an angle to things that she just was not seeing yet, but she was sure if she thought on it, it would come to her.

"The high ground is out of our reach," Will added in, sounding just as gloomy as the others.

"In short…" Ron said.

"We're screwed," everyone griped, groaning in unison when they were done. Rufus even popped out of Ron's pocket to join in on that one.

It was just them with Shego and Bonnie in a small room in the governor's mansion at Middleton. They were parked on mats instead of pillows because they wanted to be closer to the floor. The floor was littered with maps and reports, which they were all looking back and forth between. They placed everything on the floor because there were so many documents to worry about and they had not found a table large enough to fit them all.

There was water around if any of them got thirsty; they were not drinking wine because they needed clear heads to figure out how they were going to go about the problem that faced them. There were also a few trays with snacks on them in case they got hungry. They did not bother with having servants around either. Right now, they just wanted it to be them, their situation, and any solutions that wanted to present themselves.

"What're you going to do?" Bonnie asked Shego in a low tone. She was somewhat following the planning and she got the fact that so far they were screwed.

"We'll figure it out. We always do. Our engineers come up with anything?" Shego asked Kim and Betty since they spend a lot of time with that lot, considering Kim's father and brothers were there and Betty's love was in the group.

"Well, Kimmie pitched them an idea that they're fooling around with," Betty commented.

"What the hell? Don't call me Kimmie," Kim groaned and then scowled at the general. What did she have to do to get respect with her sister and the second-in-command?

"Calm down, Kimmie. It's just teasing," Shego said, dismissing the whole thing with a wave of her hand. "Who do you have working on what?" she asked.

"I gave my brothers an idea that they're going to play around with. It might be able to even us out in this battle with Senior. What're we going to do about the insanity going on up north, though? Don't they need reinforcements?" the redhead countered, turning her eyes toward a map far left of her.

"And how," Betty muttered, glancing off to the side. Those barbarians up north were savage buggers, and it seemed that Shego had no interest in letting them have the land, even though she did not want it. Having the land did mean more people to tax, though, which was a plus considering the fact that they were constantly at war. There was also the fact that Shego figured that if anybody had a claim on the land aside for her, it was Bonnie. Bonnie did have to endure being married to Fiske for a while, so she should get something out of it.

"We're going to get people and supplies up there. If push comes to shove…" Shego trailed off, not wanting to admit that she would ask Hego for help if necessary. She doubted that things were going to come to that since she had a feeling he would not assist her because he never wanted any part of war. Sometimes, she could not even believe he was Goh, let alone her brother or their father's son. He was just so damn content with his kingdom and trying to prove that he was the responsible sibling, trying to prove to their mother that he desired to rule the whole Empire and she could pass it to him when she died.

"I was thinking that maybe we should send Will up there to command," Betty proposed as if that was a normal thing to say.

"Me?" Will pointed to himself in disbelief. He was not sure what he thought of such a command. He knew that the north was essentially useless land, but the Queen seemed to want to hang onto it. Was he being sent away from the action or being given a chance to prove himself?

"Yeah, Du, you seem to be proving yourself to be halfway competent, which is more than I was giving you credit for. You can sail with some of the fleet up north. You'll get there faster by boat," Shego stated. She did not think much of the fact that she just insulted him and that seemed to go by him since the Queen was entrusting him with the task.

"Um…yes, ma'am!" Will saluted, even though he still did not know what to make of his new assignment. It seemed like he was being trusted to do something important, but he still could not shake the fact that the northern land they were currently fighting for was barren.

"What we need is a marsh," Kim mumbled to herself while going through the maps.

"I've looked. There's no marsh land near where Senior's set his troops up," Betty reported.

"I doubt any of the brainiacs with us can make a marsh, can they?" Shego wondered aloud.

"Not in time for this battle," Betty remarked. She was going to consider using pikes or something because of the chariots, but that would put them on the defensive. Gohs were not defensive fights and Shego was not interested in holding ground, but gaining ground.

"Well, I've got an idea," Kim offered up.

"Let's hear it then," Shego said. They were full of ideas, but they had to figure out which ones worked and what could be paired with other ideas. Hey, they had not come all that way to get beat now.

* * *

King Señor Senior Senior was given the word that he had been waiting for; the Goh army was on the move. From the reports that he was getting he was confident that his army, paired with that of Ed Lipsky, the ruler of a nearby city-state, would be able to take care of the Goh army because it was not at full strength.

He was well aware that the Goh army was also fighting up north, which worked to their advantage. But, they were lacking the last member of their alliance. It would seem that Shego had gone after Fiske and had taken him down at the same time that she hit Middleton. He could not figure out why that was, but he supposed that the reason did not matter. What mattered was that Shego's army was split and he had the tactical advantage in numbers and land for the upcoming battle.

Senior was now more worried about Ed and Barkin than Shego. He had to hope that Ed did not behave in his usual wild, erratic manner and that Barkin did not try to take over what was going on. He doubted that was going to work, so now he had to figure out a way to control the both of them. It would be difficult considering the fact that Ed was just plain crazy and Barkin could be, no, correction: was completely irrational when he was upset. He was going to have to trust to chance that they did not do anything insane while they pushed back the barbarians into the East.

Then there was the fact that he was going to be taking his son with him. He wanted Junior to see how to wage warfare properly. He knew that he was not going to live forever and he needed his son to take in as many lessons from him as he could. Junior was getting better at listening, but that had taken years of work and help from Junior's wife Connie.

So, there were a lot of wild cards in his deck, Senior knew that quite well. But, he still believed that he had the advantage. He was confident that he would be able to stop the Goh advance, which would hopefully give other Western forces time to mobilize and then they could all go into pushing the Gohs back into the East where they belonged.

* * *

Shego was mounted on her powerful black mare in her full battle armor in an open field. She wore her onyx-colored leather chest with her emerald cape flowing behind her like a curtain to the demons following her. The determined glare in her eyes would have sent the gods of the Underworld fleeing in terror if she was at their gates.

The sun was at her back, along with her soldiers. She was staring up an incline, knowing that the top there was an army much larger than hers waiting for her. She had already given her troops the usual pep talk and they were fired up as she expected; it was amazing what the promises of all kinds of riches could do for people. Now, she was just trying to make the enemy sweat a bit with wondering why the hell she and her forces were not coming up and why they were so quiet. It was working.

"Ah, what the hell? I mean, seriously, isn't she down there?" a large blonde man hollered in annoyance. He was standing on a chariot at the front of an army of chariots.

The blonde man was Ed Lipsky, husband to Barkin's daughter Lonnie, much to Lonnie's dismay. He was a wild-looking man, his sun-colored hair down his back in a strange style, if it could be called that. He was a strong fighter, though, which was shown through his physique. He had a barrel chest, something like Governor Barkin, but there were not many other similarities between the two men.

Ed was considered a barbarian himself by most nations around him. No one said it to his face for the simple fact that he led quite the military machine in his own right. His people made some of the best chariots in the known world. They were wide enough to hold two or three people, a driver and maybe two warriors. The platforms of his chariots were extraordinarily stable, they remained almost completely steady even at full gallop, making it an easy place for archers to shoot from.

Ed was looking forward to the battle, wanting to prove that his army was superior to the legendary monster that was the Goh war machine. He was wearing battle armor of sorts; he dressed in animals skins, as did the rest of his people. It was things such as that that left other nations believing that Ed was little more than a barbarian in his own right.

"That's it, I'm going!" Ed huffed because he was tired of waiting. He wanted a piece of the Goh army and he wanted it now!

"Hold!" Senior hollered at the other leader. He was certain that Shego was waiting for one of them to make some impulsive move and run right into her army's open jaws.

"I can't take this, seriously! I mean, we could totally fuck her up, seriously!" Ed argued, pointing down the plateau with both of his massive, bare arms.

"Just hold your position!" Senior barked and then he let loose a sigh. He was already starting to feel that he made a mistake, but he was still confident that they could take on the Goh army, as long as they stuck to the plan.

"What the hell is she doing?" Barkin muttered to himself. He was positioned on Senior's side of the battlefield. Senior and Ed were not looking to mix their armies because they were not willing to really do joint command. Ed would order his troops and Senior would command his own people.

"This better work," Shego mumbled before taking a deep breath and giving the word for her troops to charge.

The Goh army proceeded to climb the hill to the plateau, moving toward Senior's waiting forces. They followed their Queen without thought, even though many knew that death was at the top of the hill. They had been trained to follow her and they would follow her to Hell, death, and beyond if she ordered it. They trusted in her to bring them victory.

Shego hoped that she had given their enemies enough time to get nervous and anxious. As her ebony horse climbed up to the top of the hill, they were met by a hail of arrows. Shego pressed forward, coming in to nip at the front lines of the enemy army without so many as scratch on her from the projectiles. Her forces slapped at the other armies, but they were not making any headway.

"Shit," Shego cursed under her breath while literally beating back some of the ground units with her fists. She actually flung enemy troops that were near her over her back and down the hill. It was enough to make some soldiers reconsider approaching her, but some brave souls went to her. They knew that her corpse would fetch a handsome price, but the trick would be, of course, getting the corpse.

A lot of "brave" men were finding out that being hit by Shego was worse than being hit with a mace, even a mace that was on fire. Still, despite Shego's ferocity, her forces were not making any head way. They were being stalemated in their climb by professional, armed soldiers that wielded their swords as if they were extensions of themselves. The pale Queen gave her forces a signal to retreat, which they began doing.

"Ah, she's like totally scared, seriously!" Ed cackled when he noticed that Shego was sending her forces in retreat.

"Come and get us, big boy," Shego commented while fighting off a smirk. She could tell that Ed was hungry to follow her and she wanted him to follow her, much like a siren wanted a sailor to come to her. She continued to back up her troops, going down the hill now.

"Oh, go get her, seriously!" Ed called to his forces while motioning for them to move forward.

"No, don't follow her!" Senior tried to warn the blonde.

Ed was not listening now, not with all of the excitement rushing through him. He had a top warrior on the run with her army and he was about to crush her. He ordered his chariots forward, told his archers to keep firing, and he followed Shego as she tried to get her troops down the hill in an orderly fashion.

It appeared that Shego was having a hard time keeping her forces together with the fact that arrows were raining down on them, but they were keeping their shields up to make sure they were not struck by any raining missiles. Casualties were few since there was not enough space for the arrows to build momentum to pierce the shields. Some of the arrows that did not even have enough force to go through the leather armor of the soldiers. There were some dead and wounded fighters on the way down, though.

"Follow her," Barkin told Senior in a gruff tone, as if he was the one giving the orders, to the king no less.

"I'm not following her. We've got the better ground," Senior pointed out. Besides, he did not like the way things were feeling. He was going to hold the high ground and leave Shego to retreat.

"We can't let her get away," Barkin countered in a heated tone, spit flying from his mouth as he barked. Holding the ground did not mean anything in his opinion; they needed to capture Shego. If the Queen got away, then she would still hold Middleton and he would be a governor without a city-state.

"I'm not going to lose ground for her," Senior argued. He had no need to capture the Queen and he was not going to risk so many lives over her.

"We're got to catch her. Move out!" Barkin commanded the troops.

Much to Senior's surprise and dismay, some of his army began to move. Because of the small movement, Junior, who was on a different chariot, thought that his father commanded that everyone go forward. He shouted for the men near him to move out and since the order came from their prince, the troops began marching forward going after Shego.

"No," Senior groaned. He shouted orders for the men to stop, but Barkin began yelling over him to keep the men moving. The army did not know that their king wanted them to halt and they followed down the hill.

Shego chuckled to herself when she saw that Ed and his chariots were following her down the hill. A little while behind them, she would not help smiling because she saw Senior's men coming too. Kimmie's little plan was probably going to work then, she thought.

The green-skinned warrior kept pushing for her forces to retreat as they were followed by the two armies. She remained in the back because she wanted to be seen by the enemy. Senior's army ended up side by side with Ed's army as they pursued Shego with blood-lust in their eyes as far as Ed and Barkin were concerned.

"Good, most of the chariots are on one side and we're coming up to phase two," Shego commented to herself.

Shego turned her attention to the ground, watching for a ditch that she knew would be coming up soon. She quickly checked behind her again as she saw the narrow, long pit in the ground. The chariots for the most part were right where she needed them to be. She ignited her hand.

"I love it when a plan comes together," Shego remarked to herself as she threw a plasma blast into the ditch.

A column of fire shot up high from the ditch, seeming to reach the heavens for a moment. The army behind Shego was stunned by the display and they were split in half as they raced toward the wall of flames and it came toward them. The chariots with Ed went off to one side while most of Senior's army continued to chase after Shego and her fleeing troops.

"This is about to get even better," Shego commented to herself as she looked ahead of her and another trench came into view.

The Queen watched her forces make it over the ditch and her horse ended up jumping it. As she soared over the channel, Shego threw another plasma blast, igniting another wall of fire. Senior's forces were halted as the thick wall of fire rose up in front of them. The flames climbed higher than the height of a man. The front lines backed up because of the intense heat. Senior's army was now being flanked from one side and the front by fire. They were at a loss on what to do.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Senior growled in frustration. Barkin had put him, his son, and all of his men in a horrible position. They did not know what to expect and Shego now had the upper hand as far as he could tell.

"What the hell is she playing at?" Barkin muttered with a frown cutting into his face.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" Ed wondered aloud as his chariot slowed down. He looked down to see what was causing the problems and saw that his chariot was trying to go through what appeared to be mud.

"Boss, I don't think we can go any further," Ed's driver informed him as he snapped the reins; the horse struggled to go forward, but the chariot refused to move.

"Where'd all this mud come from?" Ed asked while looking behind him and seeing that most of his forces were suffering from similar problems. The chariots were not moving.

"It's not mud," Betty remarked with a small smile, even though she knew that they would not hear her. She was standing to the side of several siege towers yards away from the enemy. They found an interesting use for equipment that was made for scaling city walls. They turned out to be good places for hiding archers, too. "Fire!" she commanded.

Inside of the towers, there were dozens of archers and they were all armed. They let loose a barrage of flame tipped arrows. All of the projectiles went toward Ed and his mostly stuck troops. They had shields, which they put up to protect themselves from the missiles.

"Their aim is, like, total crap, seriously," Ed scoffed because the arrows seemed to be falling short of their targets.

"Oh, we're not aiming for you guys," Betty commented with a laugh, not caring that she was more talking to herself than anything else. She was just so amused that the crazy little plan was coming together so nicely.

The arrows mostly struck the ground, which was covered in a thick black paste. Little did Ed and his men know, but they were standing on a little project that was very, very flammable. As the fire-tipped arrows planted themselves in the onyx-colored earth, the ground seemed to grow a garden of flames. The fire shot up over a foot high and freaked out the horses.

"What the hell?!" Ed screamed as his chariot rocked back and forth as the horse struggled to escape being roasted.

"And fire again!" Betty ordered the archers.

Now the archers were aiming for Ed and his men since they were distracted with their horses and the fire. With the way that the horses were tugging at the chariots and their drivers were trying to get them under control, many of the enemies were clean pickings. Betty watched on, giving the order to fire several times.

"This is working out way better than I thought it would. Those Possible boys have some dangerous-ass minds. I'm glad they're on our side," the one-eyed woman thought to herself.

The flammable ground thing has been Kim's idea that she pitched to her brothers. They made it happen in no time. It had been more difficult smearing all of that goo on the ground than it had been for the Possible twins to come up with enough of it to cover the land. Well, she was holding up her end of the battle. She was willing to bet that the Queen and Kim were doing their parts too.

* * *

Kim and Ron came from a bit of a distance as soon as Shego and her part of the troops cleared the way from the fire wall. They were leading foot soldiers while the chariots that were with them veered off to join with Shego's forces. Kim and Ron's group marched a few yards closer to the fire wall while Shego's troops went to circle around.

"Can I do it?" Ron asked Kim with a pleading grin on his face.

"Sure, why not," the redhead answered with a shrug.

Ron turned to look at their forces. "Ready!" he called out to them, holding up one hand and one finger as a signal in case some people could not hear him.

The foot soldiers pulled out their weapons of necessity for the battle, slingshots. They loaded their weapons with small, clay jars. There were archers among them, who prepared by lighting their arrow tips on fire. They all turned their attention ahead of them, staring at the wall of fire.

"Aim!" Ron called, putting up another finger as a signal. Everyone just prepared their weapons for the next order. The blonde smiled. "Fire!"

The air was suddenly filled with clay jars heading over the wall of fire. They were shortly trailed by arrows that were trained on them. The arrows struck the jars as they were over Senior's army, who were trying to retreat anyway. As the jars broke open, their contents, which happened to be a clear liquid, were set ablaze. The flaming liquid stuck to the jar pieces, causing fire to rain down on Senior's army like heavy fury from the gods and get into a panic over what was happening.

The enemy troops were trying to get out the way of the flaming shards. They did put their shields up, acting as umbrellas. Bad move.

While Senior's troops were worrying about the fire pouring down on them, Shego's forces came around the opening. They attacked full force, pushing Senior's army toward the fire at their back. Senior's men could not put their shields down fast enough, it seemed, and many were easily felled by Goh swords. Senior gave the order to retreat, trying to get back up the hill to safer ground. Their escape ground seemed to be getting narrower very rapidly.

Shego's forces were sweeping in and also moving up with Senior's forces because little by little they were being joined by the troops that were with Kim and Ron. The rain of flames was dying down because of that, but it had already done its job by distracting Senior's forces. The Gohs really did not care when they raced into the fire rain, knowing that it was not powerful enough to burn them much and they were just following after their warrior queen anyway.

"Now for the fun part," Kim commented with a grin as she glanced behind them to see that the most of the foot-soldiers and archers were gone with Shego. She and Ron were now being joined by other forces.

"I hate this part," Ron groaned.

Kim laughed as they both mounted the same horse, a chocolate steed that belonged to the redhead. There were armed cavalry troops behind them. Kim let out a battle cry and signaled for the troops to follow her. She then charged forward with Ron screaming at the top of his lungs as they went for the final surprise, coming at Senior's retreating forces through the fire wall that would now be at their backs. Kim's voice actually carried well over her husband's scream.

"This is insane!" Ron hollered as the horse leaped into the air.

They went through the fire without being burnt to a crisp, much to Ron's delight. The same happened for the soldiers with them. They then engaged the enemies that were in the rear, trying to escape.

* * *

Betty motioned for her forces to charge into the battlefield as the flames began to die down from the flammable carpeting. The one thing about the Possible twins was that they had to put a rush job on their invention because it was needed so soon. The goo burnt out quickly, but it burned long enough in her opinion.

The archers had reduced the number of enemies into a workable force for her section of the army to deal with. They charged into the fray with their weapons drawn; most of them carried swords, many different styles of swords, but there were still many different types of weapons among them. They crashed against Ed's forces with the same power of a tsunami hitting a beach. Ed's people were so distracted that they almost did not know what hit them.

"Shego was right. This plan was crazy enough to work," Betty commented. For a while, she actually thought that Kim's imagination was going to get the better of them, but once again, Kim proved that her ability to think way outside of the box was worth its weight in gold.

Betty decided to go get her hands dirty with the rest of her group. She cracked her knuckles before pulling out her own weapon, which was a curved sword with a serrated edge. She then calmly strolled into the battle, almost as if she was walking into a market.

* * *

As the fires of the battlefield died down, it was clear that Shego's side was victorious. Senior and Barkin managed to make their getaway in the retreat, which soured Shego's mood despite the fact that she won. Her displeasure seeped into her sister, who did not even work up a cheer that her zany ideas coupled with plans from Betty and Shego had worked. She was just upset that Barkin got away yet again.

"You want to go after them?" Betty asked, speaking to the Queen and referring to the few people that had gotten away from their onslaught.

"Let's get medical attention to those who need it. If this battle has taught me anything, never chase the fleeing as they might have some hell of a trap set up," Shego remarked with sigh.

Betty did not argue that one. They had already lucked out and won. They did not need to tempt fate in her opinion. Besides, if they did end up chasing Senior and he made it back to his capital before they managed to take him, it would end up being a waste. There were not enough of them at the moment to make a dent in a city wall, especially since they did not wheel any of their catapults along with them to the battlefield.

Instead, they retreated back to Middleton with the hope of regrouping. Soldiers that needed it went to get medical attention while Shego went to brood over the fact that Barkin had slipped through her fingers yet again. He was like an eel, she seethed. To make matters worse, she had to worry about what was happening up north. She hoped that Will could handle things. He did a good job on seizing Middleton, but he did have a lot of help in that. She was not sure if he would be able to beat off some wild barbarians on his own. She was going to have to trust him, though, since she was going to be staying where she was until she caught Barkin, to make sure he could not use Bonnie again.

Shego was tense for the rest of the day. Kim was right with her. She was pissed that she lost Barkin again, as she looked at it. She silently vowed that she was not going to let him get away again. It did not have anything to do with him using Bonnie or anything noble like that. Kim just hated losing and as she looked at it, she lost to him because he got away from her that first time.

Shego was only able to let go of the thought of Barkin getting away and all of her other troubles later that night. When she laid herself down and Bonnie snuggled up next to her, everything seemed all right in the world. She was glad that Bonnie decided to stay with her on the campaign instead of going back east to wait for her. She sighed, sounding very near content, as she wrapped her arms around Bonnie, and was able to fall asleep quite easily.

* * *

Next time: more troubles up north and Barkin figures out one of Shego's weaknesses. How will he use that knowledge against her?


	23. Jerked

I don't own these characters.

23: Jerked

"This mess up north isn't getting any better," Shego muttered to herself. She was once again in conference with her usual group, discussing battle plans and exchanging thoughts on the fighting, the northern war was the current topic. What Will Du was doing in the north would sure enough soon follow.

The Queen also had Bonnie at her side as usual, even though the tanned princess was not much for offering up battle strategy. Bonnie being there seemed to keep Shego calm, even though things were not going exactly how the warrior queen desired. Bonnie was also contented to be with her beloved; the small smile on her face a sign of that as she rested against the green-skinned monarch.

The group was sitting in a small room again, parked on mats. The floor was littered with documents, papers and scrolls. They were all looking through those things, including Bonnie. It was possible that she might be able to come up with something and Shego did encourage that; the Queen was willing to take a reasonable idea from wherever it came from.

"We didn't know it was this many tribes up there and apparently, more are coming in, smelling blood in the water, I guess," Betty commented, biting back a sigh, while looking over a few reports from Will Du, who had been trusted with the command of the troops in the north. She was the one that recommended him for the assignment.

"I'll put their blood in the water," Shego muttered with a frown, glancing down at the documents before turning her attention back to the group. "What's the major deal with these barbarians up north? What do they want?"

"They want the land," Betty pointed out dryly with a shrug.

"Well, I was there first, so they're going to have to put another goal or we're wiping them out," the Queen countered in a matter-of-fact tone, tapping the floor with her finger to emphasize her point.

"Obviously they don't believe that. Will wants you to send horsemen," Betty reported as she picked up one of the documents in front of her. She wondered how many horsemen he thought he would get considering the fact that they were currently in an invasion of their own. She also did not know what he planned to do with horsemen up there; the Queen seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"That land isn't suitable for horsemen. It's barely able to sustain foot soldiers. I'm not sending horses just for them to end up dying of starvation or for the men to eat them. Horses are way too valuable. Something isn't right about this mess. Is there a report on how these barbarians are fighting?" Shego asked while shifting some of the reports that were in front of her.

"I've got that one," Kim said, holding up what her sister was looking for. She waved the paper around a little just to call attention to it.

Shego looked up to see the paper. "What's that thing say?" she asked curiously, but making it almost sound like she thought her little sister was an idiot for not just reading it already.

The redhead turned her attention down to the document. "Okay, thank the gods Will is anal," the young daredevil remarked because the document was long and detailed. It was typically an annoying trait of his, but in this time, when they could not be right there with him to see what was going on, that utterly ridiculous attention to deal was absolutely wonderful.

"Wow, did he write an epic poem to tell us what's going on?" Ron inquired when he saw the length of the document. The report was written on a long scroll, just about the longest scroll Ron had ever seen. The blonde was tempted to measure the damn thing just to see if it was a record, but he doubt that would go over well with his present company and how serious they were being.

Kim started reading off what Will had to say and it explained why he wanted the horsemen sent. The barbarians that were attacking their small forces were horsemen, making lightning hits on them from horse back. They attacked with throwing axes that were quite powerful, able to split a man's skull open if thrown with enough force and accuracy. The attacks were always by surprise, where the barbarians charged out of nowhere at all times of the day.

Will reported to them that he had used many defenses, hoping to fend off the barbarians. No matter what he did, though, they figured out a way to counter it. Even when he put up a few pikes to keep the horses at bay, they merely switched to attacking with the few archers that they had and sneaking into the camp for nightly raids. One of the reasons that he wanted horsemen was to chase after the barbarians when they attacked with archers. It was not the best plan, they all silently commented.

To make matters worse, Will informed them that the barbarians, even though they were different tribes, had formed a federation to fight against them. They were cooperating to take the land from him, but he made sure to include that he was holding on as best he could.

Other reports from lieutenants backed Will for the most part. They pointed out that he was doing his best, but he was a bit limited. He could not give an inspirational speech to save his life, apparently, and the morale of the troops would have fallen had it not been for other, more charming officers out with them. Will also had very little imagination, so they did not think that he was going to be able to come up with something to beat the barbarians, who were not fighting usual warfare.

"All right, Betty, we gave the kid a chance and he blew it as expected," Shego remarked, sounding amused and smug at the same time.

Betty shrugged, seeming to not really care that her first-hand man failed. "Well, at least we showed some faith in him." She wanted to see how far Will could go and it seemed that he just was not cut out for commanding to the point where he needed to come up with his own ideas. He was not good for thinking outside of the box and she knew not to hand him another such assignment any time in the near future.

"All right, I need someone better in command. Kimmie?" Shego volunteered her sister, casting her emerald eyes across from her.

"I'm not going anywhere until I've gotten my hands on that big monkey," Kim huffed, folding her arms across her chest and turning her nose up for a moment.

"Saw that coming," Shego chuckled. "Well, Director, get to moving."

"I saw that coming, too. I'm going to take a few engineers with me," Betty replied with a smile. She knew that she would be going back to the north as soon as Will screwed up and she had been hoping that he would not screw up.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don't get too caught up with one of those engineers until the job's done," the Queen commented with a suggestive look in her eyes.

Betty chuckled a bit. She just wanted to keep an eye on the engineer in question to make sure that she was all right. But, she was also taking some engineers in case she needed something crazy that they could come up with in no time. She hoped that she could go up there and clean up that mess. She wanted to be apart of the main campaign, after all.

The one-eyed woman did leave for the north immediately; after making sure a certain blonde engineer was by her side. She sent word that she was on her way, which let Will know that he was being relieved of his command. He did not know what to think of that. He did not feel too bad about being replaced by the woman who was second only to Shego when it came to fighting, but it did make him feel like he was not doing a good job and he liked to believe that he was doing the best that anyone could do with what he had.

Betty arrived with her own special forces by boat, along with the engineers that she was taking along. She found out one thing that was not mentioned in any of the reports as soon as she showed up; it was still cold. She thought that it would have warmed up some from when she was last up there, retrieving Bonnie. Despite the fact that it was spring, it was much further up north than any of the Goh troops were accustomed to, and they suffered in doing battle in such cold weather. She was going to have to figure out something for that, as well as the different form of attacking that the barbarian tribes were using.

"Let's get to work," Betty remarked with a confident smirk as she set foot in the Goh camp. She was not about to let barbarians hold their destiny up any longer than they already had.

* * *

King Señor Senior Senior was upset, and that was putting things mildly. He doubted that he had ever frowned so deeply in his life as he and his devastated forces returned to the protection of his capital's walls. He could not even control his breathing, and some of his officials were just trying to calm him down because they did not want the stress to kill the King.

They luckily managed to get the King to sit down; before, he was pacing a path in room marble floor of the lobby. Sprinkling him with cold water helped also, but that did not cure him of his frown. The expression seemed to cut through his whole body and etched itself on his soul.

"I'm guessing things didn't go well," Connie commented as she seemed to come out of nowhere, attaching herself to her husband's arm.

"Father called for a retreat," Junior reported, as if it was nothing, waving slightly as he spoke. He was standing a few feet from his father while watching the servants soothe his father, who was out of his seat again and moving about.

"Retreat?" Connie echoed with an arched eyebrow and slightly turned up her mouth. She was not sure if her father-in-law had ever done such a thing before. She made a mental note to inquire about the battle and also to remind her husband that retreating usually was not a good thing since he seemed to think it was nothing.

"Yes, he called a retreat. I'm going to swim," Junior declared out of the blue…well, it seemed out of the blue to her because of the subject that they were just discussing.

Connie released her husband, not wanting to join him, even though she preferred keeping an eye on him in the bathhouse. Hey, he might not be her ideal man, but he was hers and she could mold him a bit, so she was not going to allow him to do whomever or whatever he wanted. She wanted to talk to her father and her father-in-law about the battle, though. She wanted to know if they were going to be in trouble with the Gohs, although she could guess the answer to that if they had to retreat from the battle.

Senior went to his throne room, looking to do some brooding. He was still being followed by officials, worrying about his health. Barkin was with him, complaining about what had happened, as if that was going to help Senior's mood. Connie stood back and watched the scene, waiting to see what was going on.

"This was a very bad day," Senior commented in a low tone, shaking his head and putting one hand behind his back; he would have put both hands behind his back, but one was holding his cane.

"Gee, ya think? Those barbarians wiped the floor with you!" Barkin shouted in a fury, his face red from the defeat.

"Wiped the floor with me?" Senior echoed in a dangerous tone as he whipped around to face the giant asshole. He glared icy daggers at the man in his presence that he viewed as a big monkey. Oh, he was so upset that he was related to Barkin, even if it was only through a marriage. "You're the one that ordered the troops to charge forward, going right into her trap! You cost us more men in that one outing than I've lost in twenty battles!" he declared, eyes ignited with heat the sun would have envied.

"So, it's my fault?" Barkin demanded to know, pointing to himself and then slapping himself in the chest with his palms a couple of times.

"Of course!" Senior replied in a roar. "Do you think it's my fault? I told the men to hold their position. We had the high ground, we had the better position, we have her and then you had to chase her feignedretreat with that moron Ed!" He pointed at Barkin each time he ended a sentence as if that somehow would make the larger man feel the blame. Barkin did flinch slightly with each point, as if he was being struck by some phantom force controlled by the elderly ruler.

Two idiots, Senior thought, referring to Barkin and Ed Lipsky. To make it worse, two idiots that thought they knew everything about everything, he added mentally. That attitude ruined the whole battle for them. Hell, Ed was probably dead, he thought. The wild blonde had not been with them for the retreat and they had not heard any word about him. He would not be surprised if Ed was dead or being led into the belly of the Goh Empire like that fool Fiske.

After a few tense and silent seconds, Barkin delivered his rebuttal; he had to recover from the "attack" by the king, apparently. "She was on the ropes and we needed to take that demon woman's head!" the former governor replied, defending why he had hollered at the troops to go after Shego. He pointed at the king with both hands, seeming to think that he would be able to get the same reaction that the older man got from him with the same move. It did not quite work out that way.

Senior began to shake from his anger with the man before him. Once again, his officials tried to calm him down, speaking soothing words and rubbing his shoulders. Connie decided to interject herself into the conversation now, even though she knew that it would anger her father. After all, he did not think that it was a woman's place to talk about battle or political matters. She did not think that it would be good for her father to cause the death of her father-in-law though.

"While the battle is over, surely the barbarian has tasted blood, so being against each other right now wouldn't be the wisest move," Connie pointed out calmly as she approached the pair. Her footsteps were practically silent, even though she was wearing sandals like everyone else. Her father frowned as soon as he noticed her coming toward them.

"Connie," Barkin started to scold her, but Senior cut in.

"You're right as usual, my dear," Senior concurred. "Now is definitely not the time to be at each other's throats. Thank you for that," he said in his usual gracious manner.

"Happy to be of service," Connie replied with a slightly devilish smile. It was nice to show her father that she could be appreciated by someone for her mind and not just a useful political tool in building alliances.

"We need to regroup and find out how to attack the Gohs before they march into my kingdom. Our forces are quite dashed now and there's a high chance that Ed is deceased, so we need help," Senior reasoned aloud, turning his attention from the former governor to Connie since she was trying to help the cause rather than scream about pointless matters.

"You also need to figure out if the Gohs have a weakness of some kind," Connie offered up, putting a finger to her cheek as if she was trying to think of something already.

Senior nodded in agreement. He offered his daughter-in-law praise for her insight, going so far as to point out that he was glad his son had such an intelligent woman by his side for when he would have to rule. She took all of the kind words while smirking in her father's direction. Barkin was frowning despite the fact that they were trying to come up with ideas to get him his kingdom back. He did not like the fact that his daughter was being so smug with him.

Barkin relaxed a bit when Connie decided to take her leave, figuring that she better check on her husband now that she had been reminded of him. Senior and Barkin sat down to think on what they were going to do about Shego. They knew that she would be knocking on their door, so to speak, soon, so they needed to try to halt her.

"I've heard that the barbarian woman is having trouble up north. Perhaps we could add to that," Senior commented, thinking aloud more than anything else. It seemed like as long as they kept her fighting up north, they would not have to worry about her marching further west.

"And I think I know one of her weaknesses," Barkin realized. His face lit up almost as if he had an epiphany.

"Really?" Senior appeared rather intrigued by that, casting the larger man a sidelong glance. Apparently, his in-law was not just a hotheaded brute. He thought that he might have to change his opinion of the man until Barkin revealed the woman's weakness was his own daughter.

"This demon woman seems to like my youngest girl, Bonnie. That's why she went up north and why she attacked Fiske. She wanted Bonnie back. If we get Bonnie here, we'll have her in the palms of our hands," Barkin said. He could not believe he missed that before! It was all there and he just looked over it until now. He was certain that they would be able to take down that barbarian bitch now.

"You're looking to use your daughter against the barbarian woman?" Senior asked in disbelief. His eyes were wide with shock, but coated with disgust.

"Bonnie is her one weakness. She even offered to marry the girl," Barkin replied, sounding quite insistent that they use Bonnie against Shego. He leaned forward in his chair, closer to the monarch, and he hit his fist into his palm once, as if putting the stamp of approval on his own idea.

Senior was taken aback by that, in a couple of ways; he flinched from the information. He had heard that the barbarian Gohs had odd marital practices, but it never occurred to him that women might marry other women. He could not even fathom such a thing, but then again, he could not fathom Barkin using his own daughter against Shego.

The elderly king would never in all his days use a child in a way that Barkin seemed to plan for Bonnie; hell, Senior would not even use Connie in such a way and she was only his daughter-in-law. He could finally understand why Connie spoke rather poorly about her father when Barkin was not around.

Senior did not object to what he believed to be immoral behavior, staying silent as Barkin plotted aloud what he wished to do; he nodded every few seconds, contenting to his guest's scheme, apparently. Bonnie was Barkin's daughter after all. Also, any idea that would help get the loudmouth man out of his country would be greatly appreciated and taken into consideration. So, if using Bonnie was going to get Barkin out of the city, then they were going to have to get Bonnie, among other things.

So, the king went along with what Barkin desired to do. It was not as hard as he would have liked it to be, but Bonnie was no one to the King. Besides, his main concern was his own people and his own state. He could not allow the Gohs to make it to his land and wreck havoc upon it as they did with every other place that they marched into. He would do almost anything to prevent that fate.

* * *

"You okay, lover?" Bonnie asked, curling up to Shego, who could not even relax while they were in bed. Shego was tense to the point that Bonnie could feel it before she even pressed herself against the Queen. Being against her lover was almost like lying on wood, Bonnie noted.

Shego looked down at Bonnie, but was silent for a moment. She was not inclined to share the fact that sending Betty up north did not seem to be making matters any better, even though she was doing better than Will. She was troubled by that because she did not know what to do if Betty could not even make a situation come out in their favor. She could not expend any more troops than the ones that Betty had taken already and she hated to think of what she was going to need to do to come out on top of what was going on.

"I'm fine," Shego finally replied, sounding so normal that she would have fooled most people into believing her.

"Liar," Bonnie called her on it while sitting up a bit to look the Queen in her eyes. Some of her hair spilled over her shoulders and partly over her eye, making her look quite sexy. She knew that too and thought that it might help her lover cave in and tell her what she wanted to know.

"It's nothing for you to bother about," Shego said in an almost gentle tone while reaching out to put a hand on the tanned princess' hip.

"It is when it makes my pillow all hard and uncomfortable," Bonnie remarked with a small smile, putting a hand on Shego's side in response to the hand on her hip.

The raven-haired warrior smiled a bit. "Is that all I am? I'm just some pillow for you?"

"You know it," Bonnie replied, smiling brighter now.

Shego laughed a bit; the little exchange made her feel somewhat better. She knew that she was still going to have to do something about the northern problem; she was probably going to have to eat some crow to solve that problem. She supposed that it was necessary to go on with her dreams. She did make a mental note to not spread her forces so thin, especially on a poorly scouted area where she had been unaware that there were so many tribes waiting in the wings.

Bonnie came in for a kiss since Shego seemed to be calming down. Shego did not resist her and the show of affection helped relax her more. Her arms moved automatically around Bonnie, holding her closely, enjoying the body contact. The princess moaned as Shego began caressing her. The noise made the Queen shudder in anticipation and delight.

For some reason, being with Bonnie made Shego swallow her pride about what was going on. She realized that she had responsibility, not just to her people or to herself, but also to her beloved. She needed to do all that she could to make sure that she came out of the mess that she was in better than what she went in for some many different people. She was not going to let anyone down.

* * *

"What're you doing?" Kim asked curiously as she came into what Ron dubbed "the war room" because that was where they usually gathered to talk battle strategy. She was talking to her big sister, who was leaning against the back wall and writing something. The room was actually empty, except for the Queen being in there.

"I'm trying to save our asses after getting us into a horrible mess," Shego answered without bothering to look up.

"By doing what?" Kim inquired, glancing around the chaotic room. They did not let slaves come in to straighten up because they wanted everything where they remembered it to be.

"By dancing in the fucking rain, obviously," Shego replied sarcastically.

"You know when you're sitting down, it makes it really easy to kick you in that smartass mouth of yours," the redhead commented dryly, picking her right foot up slightly.

"Hey, you miss up this mouth and my hellcat is going to be tearing you apart," the pale woman pointed out with a smirk.

Kim rolled her eyes. "You're just giving me more reason to actually kick you in the mouth. It would shut you up and then get Bonnie to come at me and I wouldn't be in the wrong for beating her ass."

"You touch my kitten and I'm throwing your buffoon off a bridge."

Kim did not doubt her big sister on that one. She flopped down next to Shego and leaned against the older woman. She spied what the Queen was doing and her mouth practically hit the floor when she saw the letter that Shego was penning. Well, she supposed the subject of the letter explained why Shego did not get a scribe to take things down.

"Are you freaking serious?" Kim inquired incredulously.

"Yes," Shego simply replied.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?" Kim pressed again because she really could not believe it.

"Yes, damn it, now shut the hell up, so I can make this damn thing perfect. In fact, here."

Kim tried to run before Shego handed her the writing utensil and paper, but she could not make it very far since she was sitting right next to the Queen. By the time Kim was on her feet, Shego was holding her ankle. The pale woman yanked Kim back down to the floor and pulled the redhead back to her.

"No! I'm not your servant!" Kim complained as Shego shoved the items in her arms.

"You're my scribe now," Shego said smugly with a grin.

"This so totally unfair," Kim groaned while slumping in her seat. Damn it, she was not supposed to be used for such menial tasks! She was warrior and a freaking hero for crying out loud!

"Well, how the fuck do you think I feel about it?" the Queen countered with a slightly heated look on her face.

"Well, what makes you think I want to get in on your…I don't even know what to call this insanity," Kim said while motioning roughly to the document that she was now expected to write.

"Damn it, just take the fucking letter," Shego huffed in annoyance. She was surrounded by smart-lipped, mouthy, smartasses. Of course, she refused to take into account that she happily did that to herself.

"Fine, fine, fine. Get going," Kim huffed too while turning her attention to the paper. She could not believe she was suddenly acting as scribe. Could she get any lower in life? Did no one respect her around there anymore?

"Stop griping mentally," Shego ordered with a frown.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. I can see it in your eyes, going on in your head, crying about how you're not a servant, blah, blah, blah. Just take the damn letter and stop being a fucking crybaby all the time."

Kim scowled, but she did start taking the letter. Underneath it all, Kim knew that she was not being forced to take the letter from lack of respect, but out of deep respect. Shego did not trust anyone else to see the letter. The last thing she wanted was for people to know that she was going to ask her older brother for his help.

* * *

While waiting to hear back from Hego, Shego was surprised to get a letter coming from King Señor Senior Senior's kingdom, sent by royal messenger. The letter was actually for Bonnie; it had been intercepted by a spy since the messenger was going to the northern territory that used to belong to Monty Fiske. Shego was tempted to read it, but she held off and made sure the correspondence made it to her beloved.

"What's this?" Bonnie asked curiously as she got the sealed letter. She was just lounging around the manor, enjoying some fruit and the nice weather. Shego wished that she could be so carefree.

"I don't know. I didn't open as you can see," Shego pointed out while settling down on the couch that Bonnie was reclined on. The closeness helped ease some of the tension that was trying to constrict the pale monarch yet again.

Bonnie glanced over her shoulder to look at Shego, who was snuggling into her shoulder blade. The tanned princess opened the document and saw that it was from her sister. She read it quietly to herself and then she tensed.

"What's wrong?" Shego asked curiously because she felt her lover go rigid.

"According to my sister, my father's sick," Bonnie reported in a low tone.

"How sick?"

"She says really sick. She suggests that I come and see him because he's really sick," Bonnie said.

The princess was a bit shocked that she felt worried for her father. She was not as stunned as she could have been in the past since she knew that she felt something toward the man because she had been upset when she thought that Kim had been sent to assassinate him. Her sister was making it sound like he was on his last leg, claiming that he was wounded in battle and he got ill because of that. She doubted that she would feel too good about herself if she did not see him before he passed away.

"So?" Shego inquired.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked, sounding a little confused.

"You want to go see him?"

"Um…I think so…" Bonnie admitted almost shyly, glancing at the floor as she spoke that confession. Sure, he was a jerk, but he was her father and she would like to see him before he died. Hell, she might get an apology from him for all he had done to her recently.

"I'll send you with some guards and Kimmie," Shego offered…well, maybe it was more of an order. She was not letting her beloved out of her sight without some trustworthy protection.

"Don't you need Kimmie?" the princess countered. She might not like the redhead much, but she did acknowledge, at least privately, that Kim was important to Shego.

"I'd rather Kimmie be with you," Shego said. Kim was the only person that she would trust to keep an eye on her lover when she was not around, especially in enemy territory.

"It'll be fine. I mean, what harm could it do? He's sick and, let's face, I'm not valuable to the Seniors," Bonnie pointed out.

"The point is that you're valuable to me and I'd feel a lot better if you were with someone that could look after you in case these people try something stupid, like what he did with Fiske."

"But, he's sick and they don't even know I'm with you to think about doing anything. They think I'm still with Fiske up north, freezing my ass off."

Shego chuckled. "You know, that's what Director's been crying about."

"It's damn cold up there. But, back to this, it'll be fine. I'll go and come right back. I mean, Connie just says that I should see him and then I should return to my husband," Bonnie explained as she held up the letter for her beloved to see.

Shego glanced over the letter to see what Bonnie's sister was going on about. The letter did sound harmless, but she did not trust any Westerners aside for Bonnie. She took into account that Bonnie's sister did seem to think that Bonnie was still with Monty, but she did not totally buy that. The message seemed to push Fiske too much, but pointed out that Bonnie did not need to bring him.

"I'm still going to send you with some guards," Shego said. She really would prefer to send Kim, but she thought that her lover might be stubborn enough to refuse to go if she did send her little sister.

"Okay, but you keep Kim with you," Bonnie replied. She believed that Kim would be more beneficial to the Queen, especially if some fighting broke out.

Shego mumbled an agreement before leaning in and kissing Bonnie's neck. She was not in favor of Bonnie going into enemy territory, but she could not deprive her lover of seeing her father, especially if he was actually dying. All she could do was send people with Bonnie to make sure that she was safe. She wished that Betty was around now, so she could send Betty with Bonnie to make sure that everything went right.

The Queen would never forget the quake that she felt in her stomach that invaded her bones deep to the marrow when she watched Bonnie ride off. She knew that something was not right and her fear was confirmed not too long after that.

Shego received a letter informing her that she would not see Bonnie again until she released her hold on Middleton. To make matters worse, she received a letter from her big brother too, stating that he would not help her because he signed a treaty with her enemies because he wanted to keep peace in his land. Apparently, Senior and Barkin agreed to come to Hego's aid if the barbarians invaded his land as long as he did not act against them while they were in the West.

"Bastards!" Shego screamed at the top of her lungs while flaring her hands as bright as anyone had every seen. Because of the light walls of the mansion, the room was bathed in an ethereal jade glow. All right, Shego silently decided, the fucking kid gloves were coming off now. She was sick of everyone jerking her around as if she was a sap.

* * *

Next time: Shego's mad, so she brings out the big guns…so to speak.


	24. Pawned

I don't own these characters.

24: Pawned

Kim could not believe the letter that she was taking, not that it was clear from the look on her face. She appeared to be in deep concentration, eyes staying on what she wrote. In her mind, though, she was wondering if it was going the world was going to come to an end soon enough. That was the only way to explain the letter that she was writing.

The redheaded princess did make sure that she got every word down that was being spoken to her. The one doing the speaking was her big sister. Shego was furious and that would explain the letter that she was forcing Kim to take. The redhead doubted that she had ever seen her sister so openly outraged.

Shego was pacing in front of Kim like she was trying to stomp a hole in the floor; demons in the underworld were probably complaining about the noise. The Queen's face was stiff in a scowl, like a statue that had been wronged. She had received the two worst bits of news as far as her entire year went, and back-to-back at that. One, that bastard Barkin had pretty much kidnapped her lover because he wanted his city-state back. She could not believe the gall and insanity of the man to kidnap his own daughter and use her in such a way.

The second bit of news was as equally fucked up in her opinion. Her own big brother was going to leave her troops dying in the north when she had come right out and asked for his help. He had the nerve to sign a treaty with her enemies. It was like he thought it was all a game, she considered. Well, she was about to put him straight! She was telling their mommy on him.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Kim asked curiously, eyes still focused on her writing as she made sure to finish up her last sentence. Shego had just dictated the letter tattling on Hego to Kim and the redhead was not too sure if telling on a grown man to a woman that thousands away would do much.

"Trust me on this one. I mean, you think your nana is the fucking devil, but really, my mother would teach her a thing or two about that job," Shego commented with a smirk. There was a spark in her eyes that was shined with the fire of Hell, knowing just what her mother was capable of.

Kim could not argue that, although she could hardly believe that someone was worse than her grandmother. She read the letter back to Shego before the Queen put her mark on it. Kim then sealed the note with the royal seal and the letter was sent off back into the East. Now there was the other problem.

"How are we getting Bonnie back?" Kim asked with an eyebrow in the air as she folded her arms across her chest. She knew that getting Bonnie back was a must and she was ready to do it whenever the word came. She hoped something interesting was coming up in her sister's head.

"One step at a time, Kimmie. I rushed into this thing before and fucked everything up. Now, I've got to be calm and hope that her father won't hurt her or anything," Shego answered, still pacing back and forth. Barkin better not hurt her kitten or there would be Hell to pay!

The pale ruler knew that their current position was her fault. She had rushed, going after her lover, wanting her hellcat back, and putting a lot of lives at risk, along with her dream and the dreams of others without completely assessing the situation. She wanted Bonnie back again, but she wanted the rescue to go more smoothly than before, so she would not have to worry about something else creeping up on her. She wanted to be able to keep Bonnie without having to worry about Barkin. So, she needed to be patient about things and take things one step at time now.

"Okay, so what now?" Kim asked since they were not running out to just go get Bonnie. It was sort of against her and Shego's nature to wait around patiently when there was something out in the world that they wanted.

"Calm down, Princess. We've got more letters to write," Shego replied. Despite her words, she continued pacing just as hard as before.

"More?" Kim inquired in a puzzled tone. Her mouth turned upward at the end of her question, scrunching her face up with that action.

"We're going to get more troops, so I'm going to send word to the villages and cities in the provinces to send us young people like yourself," Shego answered.

"Like myself?" Kim craned an eyebrow. She would like to think that she was unique, so she would prefer that she be left out of comparisons.

"Well, not _just_ like you, of course. Just people around your age that want money or land or something. Anything that gets us some more people out here, more competent people anyway. So, get to scribing," Shego ordered. She knew that they were going to have to weed out any unworthy recruits, but she was certain there would be enough new soldiers that it would make a difference.

Kim frowned, but got prepared to take a new decree. Shego started dictating her next message as soon as she saw her little sister was ready to write. Kim had a feeling that by the end of the day she would not be able to feel her fingers. She was right.

--(New day)

Betty could hardly believe her eye when she saw a familiar figure coming toward the army camp. She had to call Vivian over to make sure that she was not seeing things. The blonde woman confirmed that Betty was seeing quite clearly.

"I can't believe she went this far," Betty muttered while continuing to stare ahead, eye wide open.

"Well, you did tell her that we needed a real army up here and not pieces of one. She came through for you," Vivian said, knocking her hip lightly against the brunette while Betty kept gaping at the scene before her.

"I never thought that she would go this far," the general commented.

"Just be happy that she came through for you," Vivian replied while taking Betty's arm and putting it around her waist. The move always calmed Betty down, which was what the blonde was looking to do.

Betty could not argue that. She was happy that Shego came through for her, but she never thought that the Queen would go so far. She knew that Shego was serious in her conquest, but she never imagined that Shego would go to such lengths.

"All right, Director, I'm here to work with you," Hego announced as he rode up to the general on his powerful black steed. Behind him was his army, which was not as large as his sister's army, but it was enough to make most enemies shake at the sight of them.

"Work with me?" Betty echoed in shock, her mouth curled up almost as if she did not understand his words. She knew Hego, had met him many times when Shego was avoiding him, and she knew that he did not "work" with anyone. He imposed his own will and beliefs on people, insisting that his way was the only way. Was he seriously going to work with her to win the northern territory?

"Yes, work with you," he replied in a huff, making sure to keep his voice even because he did not want things to get back to Shego that he was not playing nice with her people. He was definitely going to work with Betty and help his sister out because he did not want to risk another visit from his mother.

Yes, Isabel, Empress of the whole Goh Empire, had dropped what she was doing and had actually gone to see her eldest son in person to scold him like a bad child over leaving his sister in her time of need because he did not want to get his hands dirty. She called his sense of family into question, which honestly hurt him; her reprimanding tone did not help. By the end of her rather short visit, he felt about two inches tall and deeply ashamed, especially when she pointed out that his father was probably weeping in the heavens over his behavior. It was then that he conceded to her because he knew that his father would be thoroughly disappointed in him for leaving Shego when she needed him; he had been raised better than that.

"If that's the case, let me fill you in on what's going on around here," Betty answered in her usual, business-like tone.

Hego nodded in agreement with that. He was pretty sure that he could clean up Shego's mess, even though it meant that he was going to be breaking his word. His word was supposed to be worth all the world, his father taught him that, but then again, he seemed to ignore the times where his parents broke their word when it suited them; well, they did not do it to their kids, so that was probably why he missed out on it.

At least Hego was taking one lesson to heart, which was that family came before everything else. Shego needing him was more important than the fact that he had drawn up a treaty with her enemies, which Isabel had gotten on his case about too. She told him that if he ever signed on with his sister's enemies again just because he was against moving his troops out of his country, he was going to regret it. He did not doubt her word on that.

Hego typically kept his army in his land to "keep the peace" as he put it. Shego and Betty believed that he ran a police state, which they figured was his right, but they also believed that it was the reason why he tried to avoid war with other countries as best he could. He needed his army in his realm to make sure nothing got "out of hand" there.

The large, blue-eyed monarch supposed that it would be a good test to see what happened with his land when he and the army were away. He did have faith that his wife would be able to hold things together with the few soldiers that he left behind. He had to convince himself that everything would be fine or else he would worry about things back home and he would not be able to give his all to helping Shego. Doubts would merely make matters worse for both of them.

Once Betty filled Hego in on what was going on, he then told her what kind of troops he had with him. When she saw what she was working with, the wheels in her head began to turn. She was starting to figure out just how she wanted to approach the barbarians and their hit-and-run style of warfare now that she had forces that should be able to match them.

"Glad you brought archers with you," Betty said suddenly, a smirk gracing her features. Her mind was coming up all sorts of ideas now.

"Yeah, Shego said you were asking for them," Hego replied, knowing why she was smiling as she was. He was all too aware that Betty already had a plan, or more than one.

"Oh, they're going to come in handy," the one-eyed woman assured him. With horses and archers, they could go after the barbarians on their own terms. She just hoped that Hego's archers on horseback were just as good as her own. But, if not, she had other uses for his soldiers; she had plenty of schemes in mind for both of their warriors now. It was time to pay those damned barbarians back.

* * *

Bonnie could not believe what was going on. She had been tricked by her own father and sister; they had played with her emotions in a rather horrible way to make matters worse. They had pretty much kidnapped her and were holding her in the Seniors' palace. She was once again being used as a pawn against her beloved.

Damn it, she felt like such a fool for trusting her sister and for worrying over her father's health. How could they do such atrocious things to her? They made her believe that he was dying just so that they could use her against Shego.

"Bastards," the tanned princess cursed through gritted teeth from her resting place on a long, cushioned sofa.

She was being confined to a small apartment, like a prisoner, by her own family. It was done because the guards that Shego sent with her tried to start some trouble when it was clear that Barkin was not letting Bonnie return when she said she was leaving. She tried to leave when she saw that her father was not near death. He was not even wounded. Connie had just blatantly lied to her.

Speak of the devil, Bonnie thought with a frown as her older sister entered the room. She knew why Connie was coming. Since being held, people had come in and wanted to know why she was so important to Shego. She was not looking to share such information, especially with people that had lied, toyed with her emotions, and kidnapped her.

"Hey there, little sister," Connie commented with a false smile as she joined Bonnie on the one couch that was in the small room.

Bonnie frowned deeper, feeling the greeting was a mockery. Her sisters did not know anything about being big sisters. The odd thing was that she learned that from watching Shego with Kim. Despite the fact that they were at each other's throats often, it never seemed to be harmful, malicious, or serious like it was with her sisters. She knew that Shego and Kim would never purposely injure each other in any way. She wished that her sisters had been that way with her, but no such luck; the story of her life most of the time, she thought.

"What do you want?" Bonnie grumbled while turning her back to Connie. The younger princess gripped the arm of the sofa for a moment before resting her arms and head on the cushion.

"Don't act so sour. We saved you from that barbarian woman, after all," Connie pointed out. She almost reached out to touch her little sister, looking to offer some form of comfort. But, Bonnie noticed the hand coming toward her and glared at the attachment as if she was going to set it on fire. Her sister wisely withdrew the limb.

"Saved?" Bonnie echoed with some edge in her voice. Everyone that had come in had said that, her father, her sister, King Senior, and a bunch of servants that were supposed to look after her. They wanted it to seem like they did her a favor, she noted, even though she had been told such a wicked lie. They toyed with her feelings and they dared to want her to believe that it was to save her. None of them knew what they had done! And she doubted that they would care if they did know.

"We got you away from those barbarians. You should be happy," Connie said, practically insisting that her baby sister show some appreciation.

"You told me Dad was dying!" Bonnie replied, turning around to show her sister the full extent of her fury in her aqua eyes. How the hell could she be happy when her emotions were being played with like a cheap lute and took her from the one place that she had known joy?!

"We needed to get you away from her," the elder sister said with surprising softness, but she was not fooling Bonnie. After all, Bonnie used to live with her and knew that there was no compassion in her big sister's being; at least, none for her.

"Well, telling me Dad was dying wasn't the best way to go about it! And how'd you know I was there anyway? The letter was supposed to make it to Fiske's territory," Bonnie stated. She knew that it was a trap from the start now. She did not understand how they knew she was with Shego or how they knew that she was valuable to the Goh queen, but she knew that it was all set up for them to use her against her beloved.

"We wanted her spies to catch it," Connie replied with a shrug. She was not going to go more into depth than that because she did not trust Bonnie with the information.

The younger woman's eyes narrowed a bit. "Why?"

"Don't worry about that. So, what've you been doing since you were with the barbarians? They didn't make you one of them, did they?" Connie teased. "I bet you fit right in." She laughed a bit.

Bonnie huffed; well, yes, she did fit right in. She fell in love and made friends. She had people that cared about her and that came to rescue her when she needed it. They cared about her wellbeing and they included her in things. She was not going to betray them by talking about them to her sister or her father or some smooth talking king, which Senior was with his gentlemanly ways.

"Go away, Connie," Bonnie grumbled, turning her back to her sister again. She did not feel like talking anymore.

Connie frowned now. She did not like her little sister's silence in the matter. It seemed quite suspicious to her. She shared her concern with her father-in-law when she went to see him later on, finding him in his throne room, where he thinking on the matter with Goh army being so close. He agreed with her about her suspicions.

"She doesn't seem at all happy to be away from the barbarians and reunited with her family," Senior commented, although he could understand Bonnie not being happy to see her family.

"I think they might've turned her into one of them," Connie said.

"I guess that would explain why she's so important to the demon queen. She's a valuable source of information on your home city-state and the West. She could be used in many different ways. We'll have to wait and see what that barbarian's answer is in regards to getting her back," Senior replied, tone slightly tight. He was tense and had been ever since the battle with the Gohs.

"Not that she's going to get her back," Connie remarked, smirking a little from confidence.

Senior nodded on that one. Barkin had already made it clear that he was keeping Bonnie with him after he got his city-state back. Senior doubted that Barkin's desire to keep his daughter had anything to do with fatherly love. Barkin wanted Bonnie to marry her off to some other ruler to build a new alliance, especially since they were quite certain that Ed died in battle.

* * *

"So, what are you going to do about Barkin?" Kim asked Shego. They were standing on a balcony, overlooking Middleton.

"You know what I'm going to do," Shego answered, eyes focused outward as if what was on her mind was no big deal.

Kim chuckled a bit. "Just wondering. We're going to keep going after deal with him, right?"

"Of course. We're going to keep going until the world is ours, Princess," Shego declared, putting an arm around her sister's shoulder and gesturing outward with her other hand.

Kim nodded to show that she understood. Shego was not going to let one or several setbacks stop her. She dragged an entire kingdom on board with her for her dreams, her father's dreams, and she was going to take them to the promised land. Her people were going to get rich and they were going to gain fame, which Kim was all for. On the way to all of that, she was going to pick Bonnie back up.

"I'll send Barkin a letter, saying that I need time to get our men together to get them out of the city," Shego said as she took her arm from her little sister and leaned against the ivory guardrail of the terrace.

"And I'll send a letter to Betty?" Kim guessed.

"Get on it," the Queen replied.

Kim nodded and ran off to perform her task. Oh, what they were going to do was going to be so fun, she thought. She was certain that Betty was going to love what was going on too. Hell, Shego had gotten a kick out of thinking of the plan.

Shego smiled to herself as she walked off to go carry out her bit of the plan. She came to the conclusion that working with Barkin meant reading between the lines. There was always something underneath what he was offering. So, she figured that he was planning to double-cross her again in some manner, like he tried to do before. He was about to learn that it was hard to cheat a cheater.

* * *

"The Gohs are coming!"

The warning echoed through out the palace, alerting Senior and Barkin before a servant even made it to them. Senior called for his soldiers to prepare for battle. The towers of the wall were manned in a timely fashion. Senior and Barkin went to get an idea of what they were about to be up against. They could not believe the size of the army that they saw marching toward them.

"That lying bitch! She claimed that she was going to leave Middleton," Barkin growled. A scowl quickly conquered his face as he just thought about Shego and how she had the nerve to go back on her word again.

"Obviously, she left Middleton only to come here," Senior huffed, frowning deeply himself. Now, his country and capital were in danger of being sacked, occupied, or worse, if they had offended Shego enough. Now he was going to have to hold against a siege. He would not be so worried if only he did not know that the Gohs were better in siege warfare than on an open battlefield because they had all sorts of siege machines. If he could not rid himself of the menace quickly, there was also the chance of starving in the city if the Gohs happened to discover some of the secret supply lines.

Barkin watched as a familiar scene setup before his eyes. The Gohs came into view like a swarm of locusts, promising more terror than the insects could ever imagine doing. Shego was at the forefront of her army, dressed in her battle armor; her black chest plate seemed to forecast doom as her emerald green cape blew harshly behind her in a breeze. The troops were flying her royal colors and apparently ready for war.

"Pray to your gods for a swift death!" Shego called to the occupants of the city and her army cheered.

Senior quickly moved from the balcony, wanting to double-check that all of his men were in place and they were all prepared for the battle that they had ahead of them. Barkin kept his eyes on Shego, who, he could not tell, was wearing quite the demonic smile. She looked back into her ranks.

Shego was pleased with the response that she got when she sent out letters to her people. Volunteers of all types joined her, looking for everything that she promised and she was not going to disappoint them as long as they did not disappoint her. She turned to the troops as Kim and Ron walked over to her; they were tugging a massive bull. Shego dismounted her mare and took the bull from the pair.

"Everyone, you've come a long way, leaving everything you've known and everyone you've loved behind for the unknown. You will not be let down. There is something here for every one of you. Fight hard and you will be rewarded!" Shego promised the army, who erupted into cheers.

"You know, I'd like the reward part to start kicking in," Ron remarked.

"Will you just come on," Kim said, tugging the blonde off while Shego continued on firing up the soldiers.

"I'm just saying," Ron groaned. He was really just complaining for the sake of complaining.

Shego watched her sister and Ron leave. She went through one of her usual speeches and then slit the bull's throat with a sword at her side. She said a prayer over the bull, calling for protection and victory. The troops cheered louder and as the sun set, Shego called for them to attack the wall. Her troops ran at the wall head on, trying to break through into the city and all of the treasure within. She supposed the fact that Senior's capital was known for its riches helped motivate her soldiers in wanting to take the wall and get in the city.

* * *

"Are you sure your wall will hold?" Barkin asked Senior as they watched the siege continue, even though it was getting late into the night.

"Since she's concentrating her forces on one section of the wall, I can do the same. She's extending more energy trying to get in, so we should be fine. We're got enough supplies and can get more delivered through a series of tunnels," Senior answered confidently. He was ready to hold off the Gohs, but he had to hope that the Daughter of Death did not have any more tricks up her sleeves like their last meeting and he also had to hope that Barkin did not do anything else stupid.

"Do you think we should try to send word to her? Remind her that we have Bonnie?" Barkin suggested. He thought that the barbarian queen might reconsider things if she was informed that Bonnie was there and perhaps imply that Bonnie was in some danger. Surely that would get Shego to behave.

Senior frowned; how could the man still be trying to use his daughter at such a critical time? He shook the question away, chalking it up to Barkin just being a lowlife. He was starting to think that trying to use Bonnie had only upset Shego more if she just attacked them, even though she was supposed to be running her army thin. He had not gotten word just yet that Shego had gotten some help from her brother. That was not going to be a secret for long.

As the sun rose the next day, Senior was stuck dumb when he went to go check on the siege. On the horizon were two flags and masses of people. Goh colors were being flown, Shego's flag and her brother's flag was also being flown. Had Hego betrayed them? He frowned as he supposed so. Things seemed to be getting worse by the second, he believed.

"What in the world is going on?" Senior asked the sky in a desperate tone. Everything was going so wrong.

Senior thought that Hego would not betray the treaty considering the fact that it was well known that he did not interfere in his sister's wars. He had not moved for months when she was having trouble in the north, but now it seemed that he was on her side. The King could not understand it; he had never met the siblings' mother, obviously.

He had to move because he knew that the two armies were going to merge. He thought that they might focus on the one spot like Shego's forces were doing, but he was wrong. Shego's forces spread out as they were met by Hego's troops and Betty's soldiers reunited with the army. The city was easily surrounded by all of those men.

"This was just too good," Betty remarked, chuckling to herself. It had been arranged for them to join the siege a day late just to trick Barkin and Senior into thinking that it was going to be a small, one-sided attack. And to think, there was more to come.

* * *

"I think it would be wise for us to flee the city," Senior commented as ammunition from the Goh catapults ripped through the walls and the city. The combined forces of Shego and Hego seemed to be too much for even his thick, double-layered walls. From the surrounded city, his forces were stretched thin to defend every inch of the walls and they were being overwhelmed by the numbers alone. The machines being used and superior weapons just added to their trouble.

"That lying barbarian bitch!" Barkin cursed loudly.

Senior did not pay the man any mind. He retrieved his son and daughter-in-law. They all went to get Bonnie, even though Junior and Connie were complaining about wasting time when they needed to leave now.

"What's going on?" Bonnie inquired as her father tugged on her while following Senior down a long hallway.

"City's under siege. We've got to escape now," Barkin replied, yanking on Bonnie to make sure she kept up.

"Under siege?" Bonnie echoed as if she did not understand and then she realized what was going on. She tried to resist her father because she did not want to be taken if Shego was in the city.

"Bonnie, what the hell are you doing?" Barkin inquired because he could feel that she was trying to pull away from him.

Bonnie did not answer, but she could not get away from her father; he was stronger and had a superior grip. They continued moving, following Senior. They got to where they were going, having to move a tapestry to reveal a secret tunnel.

"I don't think you want to go this way," Kim remarked as she and Ron stepped out of the hidden hallway. They were both smiling; Ron was close to grinning just because of the surprise on the fleeing group's face.

"You!" Barkin gasped and he made sure to tighten his grip on Bonnie. She hissed in pain, knowing that she was going to have a bruise.

"It's just a little girl and a boy with bad hair," Junior commented in a dismissive manner, having the nerve to wave the duo off. He even turned his nose up at them.

"Bad hair?" Ron echoed as if he was crushed. He rushed the top of his head. He always thought his hair was pretty good.

"I'll show you little girl," Kim growled. The last thing she needed was a barbarian disrespecting her, especially since she seemed to have to put up with disrespect for quite a while now. Well, at least she could do something about him. She launched herself at Junior to take him on.

Barkin turned around, ready to flee while Kim was handling Junior. He took a step, tugging Bonnie along with him. He was then stopped by a frightening sight.

"Where the hell do you think you're going with my fucking hellcat?" Shego demanded to know, standing in front of the former governor. She was standing in shadow, but her hands were glowing that deadly green that earned her the title of being a demon. Her face was illuminated enough for him to see that she was scowling deeply, the flames of Hell blazing in her eyes. Barkin gulped, certain that he was looking not only the devil in the face, but also that he was seeing his death in her narrow eyes.

* * *

Next time: the end.


	25. Check and mate

I don't own these characters.

25: Check and mate

Shego looked like the very definition of furious, which might explain why Barkin was sweating like he was on a barbeque spit. He was semi-aware that he was standing between a demon and something that she wanted, namely Bonnie. Most people probably would have figured to just give the demon what she wanted; it did not cross his mind, though.

Right now, Barking was just too scared to think straight. He could not believe what he was seeing, let along figure out what to do. The green fire rising off of the demon's fingers, blazing so hot that he could feel it practically kissing him with poisonous lips. His mind shut down for a moment.

"Give me my hellcat," Shego ordered in a menacing tone as her hands flared ever higher than before. The flames coming off of her fists were so large it seemed like her whole body was actually burning emerald. The snarl tugging at her mouth was damn near feral; it certainly would have set lions, wolves, and wise men fleeing in terror.

"Dad, let me go," Bonnie demanded because of how angry her lover appeared. She had no doubt that Shego would cut her father's hand off to get him to let go of her.

The former Middleton Governor's mind returned to him as he felt his daughter trying to free herself from his grip. He seemed to think that he was in control, tightening his hold on Bonnie even more. Not only that, Shego did not seem to be in her right mind, so there was not much of a chance of him letting Bonnie go. Shego could get the both of them if he did not stick to the plan.

"Wait, are you insane?" Barkin hollered down at his petite daughter, practically screaming in her face as if he thought that she was complete idiot for making such a request.

"No, she's right. You might wanna let her go," Ron suggested in earnest because of the look on the Queen's face, the fire burning in her eyes. He was blocking the escape route that both Barkin and the Senior royal family planned to use. Kim was currently wailing on Junior while Senior was trying to get the fiery redhead off of his son. Junior made the mistake of disrespecting Kim by referring to her as a "little girl" and she obviously was not in the mood for anymore disrespect.

"And you might want to do it posthaste," Shego commented as she flared her hands even higher. If Barkin even looked like he was going to run, she was frying his ass worst than a stuffed pig at a feast.

Bonnie managed to yank her wrist out of her father's hand while he was standing there being stuck on stupid. Bonnie then rushed to Shego, throwing her hands around the Queen, proving that she was all right and hoping to quell the fire raging in the monarch. Shego wasted no time putting an arm possessively around Bonnie's waist, but she kept her narrow emerald eyes glued to Barkin. Her plasma continued burning; everyone was too charged to notice that the flaming hand holding Bonnie was not harming her.

"I'm okay," Bonnie whispered to Shego and kissed her cheek to hopefully calm her down. She really did not want to see Shego murder her father.

The words registered to Shego's mind, as did the display of affection, but she was still quite infuriated with everything that happened. She had been played yet again. Her love had been used against her. The roaring flames inside of her burned and wanted vengeance for her pride, but that did not last for long.

The warrior queen started calming down because she felt a small hand gently caressing her sides. Her nerves seemed to shift from one mood of attack to wanting to attack a new target in another manner. She was close to trembling, not from fury anymore either. Blood lust versus sexual lust; wow, blood lust had its ass kicked in less than ten seconds. The glow around her raised hand began to fade, but it did not go completely out. The hand on Bonnie no longer glowed at all.

"Kimmie, get off of that idiot and tie everyone up," Shego ordered in a slightly tense tone, trying to make it sound like a bark, but something was off ever-so slightly. She then whispered to Bonnie. "Stop doing that, you're ruining my concentration with this attack."

Bonnie smirked a bit, but she did stop rubbing her lover's body. Her hand remained planted on Shego, though. It assured her that Shego was actually standing there; it also assured Shego that Bonnie was there. They were together again.

Kim got in one last punch on Junior, who was unconscious anyway, before starting to tie up their captives. Barkin and Connie did not even think to protest because they were too busy watching Bonnie with Shego. The actions seemed…odd.

"What the hell are you doing to my daughter?" Barkin finally managed to inquire. A snarl tugged at his lips and a fury ignited in his eyes.

"I think your daughter's doing something to me. And I'm very happy to break this to you, but she's not yours anymore. She is _my_ hellcat. She's mine now. She's not going to be some little tool for you to use anymore and she's not going to have to worry about you fucking with her head by lying about damn near dying. So, don't even think about her being yours anymore. She's mine," Shego stated with a fierce growl while pressing Bonnie against her tightly with the one hand around the princess.

"I won't let you debase my daughter!" Barkin declared while taking a bold step closer to the Queen, which was not a wise move.

"I won't let you hurt my bride!" Shego countered while stepping over to Barkin with flaming hand with flexed talons.

"Your bride?" he echoed in shock. He took a step back, more from the shock delivered to him than because of fear.

"Yes, remember a few months ago I actually proposed marriage and you wanted to be a dick and give my hellcat away? I meant it, you stupid fuck-boob," Shego growled, sounding almost like a monster.

"Fuck-boob?" Ron echoed and decided to write that one down. One day, he might actually be in an argument where he was justified in calling someone a "fuck-boob."

"Bonnie, you're not seriously considering marrying this barbarian, are you? That's just about the worst thing you could even think. It's disgusting," Connie objected, her face twisting in a mix of horror and nausea. She could barely fathom what was being said. Surely, her little sister, who she did think little of, was not so lowly and weak to actually accept the proposal of a female barbarian!

"Shego, are you serious?" Bonnie asked, her eyebrows curled up and her eyes almost shining with hope.

"Yes, I'm serious. This could've gone the easy way, but your father wanted to act like he could run the fucking world using you and his fucked up connections. Well, get this, Governor, I run the fucking world and I'm marrying the hellcat and you and everyone else here are going to be on house arrest for the rest of your worthless fucking lives," Shego proclaimed. She would have preferred something a little more permanent, but they were her lover's family. She could not execute her love's family…not without a very good reason anyway.

"This is a proposal to remember," Ron remarked, holding his arms across his chest. He was very close to laughing and that was clear in his voice.

"Kimmie," Shego growled while pointing to the blonde. She did not bother to look at Ron while pointing at him.

Kim sighed and got Ron to hold off on the side comments. To keep him quiet, Kim suggested that he help her get the prisoners together, which he did in a flash. Barkin and Connie were not even sure what to make of what was happening, especially since Bonnie seemed rather comfortable being pressed against the barbarian queen.

"Bonnie, you can't be serious about going through with this," Connie said, her expression now angry and confused. How could anyone related to her be so insane and offensive? There was no way that she could be related to someone like that! She could not even call Bonnie "sister" if she could do something so filthy.

"You're going to marry me, right, kitten?" Shego asked, giving Bonnie a little peck on the mouth just to disturb their audience, which worked, especially since Bonnie did not resist.

"You know I will," Bonnie answered, full attention on her love. She did not care what her family thought. She loved the Queen and she would love nothing more than to be married to her.

"I forbid it!" Barkin howled like an enraged wolf and he tried to charge at Shego, but the way that Kim and Ron tied him to their other three prisoners made it impossible since those three were not moving.

"It's not your choice. It's Bonnie's choice and she's with me. I'll take your city as her dowry if it makes you feel any better," Shego remarked with a smirk.

"You bitch! What have you done to my daughter?" Barkin demanded to know, his jaw tense from his anger. Spit flew from his mouth as he roared in her direction.

"What, you mean aside for love and respect her? I don't treat her like a fucking piece on a chessboard. So, why don't you just shut the hell up and sit back and relax because when the sun comes back up, this city is going to belong to me," Shego declared and she was right.

By the time the sun was climbing into the sky, the city was pretty much Shego's. Her army and her brother's army came through the walls and took the city easily. It seemed that they made quite a team…a team that was coming to end right after they captured the city. Shego was not looking to share in her glory of taking the West with Hego and he wanted to get back to his province in the Goh Empire anyway.

--(New day)

"You know, when you said you'd marry me, I was expecting this to happen a lot sooner," Bonnie commented, speaking to Shego.

The couple was lying on a large green pillow outside in a courtyard. They had had just survived the wedding ceremony and were getting to celebrating. The ceremony seemed to drag on forever and Bonnie was surprised that Shego had not fallen asleep during the service. Shego had been quite close to sleeping on her feet while in her mind she pled with the priest to just shut up already before she snapped. Luckily, they made it through the ceremony without incident; a glaring pair of emerald eyes drilling into Shego's back might have had something to do with it.

Right now, they were watching actors put on a drama. Shego had arranged for plenty of shows for a celebration that even she was not sure when it would end. She was not really in the mood for a show, but she wanted to give her little bride the greatest wedding ever. It was working so far if the smile on Bonnie's face and the manner that she leaned against the Queen meant anything.

Aside for all of the shows that Shego had planned, there was also the unending feast that she had setup. Food was just going to keep coming until there were no more people around. The wine was going to flow until everyone passed out; Shego was not going to be in that lot for once. She was trying her best not to touch any wine because she wanted to be totally coherent when her little bride was ready to get out of there.

The gifts that Shego had given out to the guests that were at the wedding were outrageous, especially considering the fact that she invited her entire army, active or retired. She gave out golden cups, which a person only needed one of to be rich beyond belief. Fine silks were handed out, jewels, and since Shego was in such a good mood brought on by marrying her little hellcat, she offered to pay off any of her soldiers debts. That earned her a round of cheers, which she knew it would.

"You wanted me to just drop my whole western march to marry you?" Shego inquired, even though she could guess the answer to that one.

"Hell, yes. Aren't I worth it?" Bonnie countered, hands wandering from her spouse's sides to her shoulders. Her white garments were contrasting against Shego's usual green and black robes.

Shego smirked a little while turning to look at the younger woman. All right, so she had finished her seasonal campaign in the West before returning home to marry Bonnie. Still, the weather was fair, giving them a wonderful outdoor ceremony, which was good because it meant that Shego did not have to hear her mother's mouth about things.

"Well, aren't I?" Bonnie pressed as she rolled over to curl into Shego. She was now lying on the older woman and could careless if someone was watching.

"You're worth the world," Shego replied while throwing her arm around Bonnie's waist and pulling the younger woman to her. She then started quite the scandalous kiss with the tanned female.

"That's supposed to wait for later tonight," a cool, smooth voice commented, causing Shego to quickly pull away from her bride. She knew that voice all too well.

"Mommy, what the hell have I told you about just appearing out of nowhere?" Shego huffed, brow furrowing from being vexed.

"But, you're so cute when you're startled," Isabel remarked with a small, amused smile. Her eyes seemed to shine, laughing at her daughter on the inside.

Shego turned her mouth up, looking quite offended by that. She did not look any happier when her mother asked to borrow Bonnie for a moment. Bonnie was a bit puzzled by that, but she did rise to her feet to go off with Isabel; her jewelry and a few bells that she was wearing rang out as she climbed to her feet. The white cloth that she was wearing flowed behind her as she followed Isabel off to a quiet cornered. Shego just watched them go.

Bonnie had already met Isabel a few days ago before the wedding went down when the Empress arrived at the palace. Isabel was quite nice to her while being rather playful with Shego. Bonnie was not sure what to make of Isabel because it was hard to believe that such a nice woman could be Shego's mother, although the resemblance made that quite clear. It was also hard to believe that Isabel could be a demon like stories made her seem.

"You know, you really shouldn't have worn white for the wedding," Isabel commented while running her fingers over Bonnie's top robe.

"This is the color brides wear in Middleton," Bonnie replied with a slight shrug as she took a moment to look down at her clothing.

"Yes, Shego told me. It's just that where I'm from, this is considered a bad omen," Isabel said, still regarding the garments. She seemed to be deep in thought for all of two seconds.

"Shego didn't say anything about it. She said I could wear whatever color I wanted," Bonnie informed the Empress while continuing to look down at herself.

"I'm sure she did. Shego doesn't believe in omens. She's like her father; they made their own luck. I just wanted to congratulate you and thank you for getting you to get my little girl to settle down some. She needs to see there's more to life than taking over the world…not that I think she'll stop. Just support her as she goes after her dreams," Isabel requested, voice surprisingly soft as were her eyes.

"I will," Bonnie promised with a nod to drive her word home.

"That's good to know. She'll be good to you. I know she will."

Bonnie smirked. "She better be."

Isabel chuckled; she could see why her daughter fell for Bonnie. "You just make sure you keep her focused."

"I will."

"All right. Well, I don't want to keep you from your bride any longer. Besides, I've been enjoying the play going on. Hopefully, I'll talk to you again before I have to go back east. It's quite nice to have another daughter," Isabel said with a smile while placing a hand on Bonnie's shoulder before going about her business.

Bonnie smiled a bit, happy to be accepted as a daughter by Shego's mother. It was nice to have a caring family, especially since her own family had disowned her. Her family, despite the fact that they were Shego's enemies, were still alive and well. Shego put Bonnie's whole family, her father, mother, and both of her sisters, on house arrest at a wonderful, extensive villa near the coast in her province. They were under constant watch and they were not allowed to send out letters. Bonnie was free to see them whenever she wanted, but she had yet to bother with it.

Her family had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to attend. Bonnie preferred things that way because she did not want them to ruin what was easily the happiest day of her life. They were utterly against her marrying a barbarian woman, which she could understand, but she did not care. She loved Shego and Shego loved her, which was enough for her.

Before making it back to Shego, Bonnie ran into Tara, who was walking arm in arm with a brunette young man. The friends smiled at each other and Tara let go of the young man to hug Bonnie as congratulation. Once they released each other, Tara introduced the bride to her beau.

"This is Josh," Tara said, grabbing onto his arm and squeezing it slightly.

"Oh," Bonnie commented, not saying more because she did not want to give away that she knew who he was. She did not think it was necessary for Josh to know that Tara talked a lot about him.

"He just joined the army," Tara informed her friend, trying her best to hold back a giddy grin, but she was failing miserably. She appeared to be ready to burst from her happiness, which the princess could appreciate.

Bonnie nodded to show that she understood; it was all right for Tara to be with Josh now since he was probably going to move up in rank and gain status in society. They made plans to get together sometime soon, but Bonnie was understandably in her a hurry to get back to the Queen. They exchanged pleasant goodbyes and wished each other luck before Bonnie walked off to return to Shego. She halted for a moment when she saw that Shego was speaking with Kim.

"You know, I didn't think you'd go through with this," Kim said to her adopted sister. She was sitting next to the Queen, not on the pillow as she usually would, but just to the side of Shego.

"What're you jealous now because you're going to have to share me?" Shego teased, smiling a bit.

Kim scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You two are made for each other. Two bitchy women that get on my nerves."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You got anything you want to say or should I just whip your ass to hold you over since you won't be seeing me for a while?" Shego inquired, a taunting smirk dominating her face.

"I was supposed to say something encouraging and uplifting to you, but you bringing up ass-kickings makes me just want to kick your ass. Just seems inappropriate to do on your wedding day," Kim remarked, an amused smile adorning her face.

"Just promise you won't kill Bonnie and that'll be enough," the pale woman commented quite seriously.

Kim shrugged. "Hey, you haven't killed Ron, why should I kill Bonnie?"

The sisters laughed a bit, both knowing that they did not hate each other's spouses as much as they pretended to. Shego sat up some while Kim leaned over and they exchanged a quick hug. Kim wished her big sister luck and then went back to Ron and her family to watch the rest of the play. Bonnie approached as soon as Kim was gone.

"My mother didn't try to eat your soul, did she?" Shego inquired as Bonnie sat down next to her again.

"No, she was just telling me to keep you in line," Bonnie replied with a smile, which earned her a hearty laugh out of her lover.

"I can imagine," Shego said while throwing her arms around her bride, pulling the younger woman closer.

Bonnie settled back in next to Shego and enjoyed the play. There were a couple more shows in the theater contest. When it was all said and done, they turned to the Queen to decide who won. Shego in turn looked to her bride to decide the winner. When Bonnie made a choice, Shego gave away a pouch of gold coins to the winner.

A fighting tournament was set up after the plays were done, earning a roar from all of the warriors that were around. Shego got involved first in a hands-off way and then actually involved quite quickly. She started with offering the winner a golden crown, until Kim decided that she was going to be in the tournament. It was then that the green-skinned monarch decided that she was going to in the thing.

Shego went in, fighting in her wedding clothes, which consisted of her usual rich garments. She did not even take off her jewelry. She ended up about to face off with Kim for the end round when Kim's grandmother and Isabel got to scold the both of them about possibly ruining their clothes and the problems with fighting with so much jewels on. The two older women grabbed the ears of their respective charges and dragged them back to where they belonged.

"Ah, c'mon!" the sisters complained, groaning as they spoke. They could not believe how they had just been thoroughly embarrassed by probably the only two people on the planet that would dare to pull them out of a match.

Bonnie could not help smiling at the ridiculous spectacle of her spouse and now sister-in-law being pulled by their ears; as far as she knew, they were the deadliest warriors in the country and they were being treated like reprimanded children. Bonnie did begin thinking about how she was going to have to adjust to the warrior culture that existed in the Goh Empire, but she was sure that she would be able to do it. After all, she knew that Shego would help her adjust, as would her friends.

Shego returned to her seat with Bonnie once her mother was done embarrassing her. At least she was not alone considering that Kim had the same problem with her nana. No one laughed at them, which was wise, and the party kept on moving.

As the sunset, the celebration continued, but Shego had had her fill of things. She was ready to leave for her bedchambers. She was not very subtle about it either. She rose from her seat and snatched up her bride in both arms, lifting Bonnie off the pillow, causing the tanned female to yelp in surprise. When the guests noticed, they rose their wine cups and cheered.

"You'll have to excuse us, I've got to go break in my new girl," Shego announced to the party with a grin.

"Be careful before your kitten breaks you!" Betty called, surprisingly sober despite the fact that the wine was being poured like rain all around her. Vivian was keeping her occupied and she was usually a moderate drinker when she was not in the immediate company of Shego and Kim.

"Call if you need reinforcements," a faceless soldier remarked.

"I think I can handle this one on my own. So, drink up and enjoy your winter! I know I'll enjoy mine," Shego commented with a smile as she turned her attention to Bonnie.

"Me too," Bonnie agreed with a smile. "Maybe this can last longer than the winter."

"Let's try to make it through winter first. I'm sure you're going to need to recuperate when I'm done with you."

"Promises, promises."

Shego continued smiling while Bonnie wrapped her arms around the pale woman's neck. Shego went to her bedroom, which would from then on be their bedroom. There were some servants milling about the room, trying to make it perfect for when the couple arrived. The servants knew without orders that they needed to get out right now.

Shego started kissing Bonnie before she even put the younger woman down on the bed. The kiss was gentle, but passionate and Bonnie returned it immediately while grabbing for Shego's robe. She pushed the top off of the Queen's shoulders while Shego lowered her onto the bed.

"You're beautiful," Shego whispered lovingly as she pulled away for some air. Her mouth was still quite close to Bonnie's and her hands were moving up and down Bonnie's torso, caressing her tenderly.

"So are you," Bonnie replied with a small moan. She leaned into the touches of her love, whimpering for more.

Shego smiled, more from Bonnie's reaction than the compliant. She figured that since she it was such a special night that she would go slow, even though she really just wanted to rip Bonnie out of her clothes and wear her out. That would sort of take the fun out of the rest of the night, though.

Bonnie noticed what Shego was doing right away and she did appreciate it. She wanted the night to last as long as possible and the slow pace told her that Shego desired the same thing. She sat up a bit to start a new, deep kiss, which Shego accepted instantly.

The kiss was hot and fervent. They moved together as if they were one in that simple kiss, which led them to believe that they were one now. They were not just one from the announcement of law or in the eyes of the Goh gods, but they were linked in every way. Their souls had merged and they were spiritually one entity.

The second time that they pulled away for air, Shego left Bonnie's mouth to settle at her neck. She gently nipped and licked at the tanned flesh, enjoying the sweet taste. Bonnie tilted her head, giving Shego better access. As the green-skinned warrior worked, small moans from Bonnie filled the candle lit room.

The flames seemed to dance every time Bonnie made a sound. It was as if she had control of the element that made Shego seem like a demon. The fire swayed calmly and then sharply as a particularly loud whimper escaped the tanned female; Shego's mouth had discovered an especially sweet place to settle on for a moment.

Bonnie gripped Shego's back and began pulling off the Queen's black shirt. She flung the top to the side of the bed and then her hands were back to the powerful shoulders of her lover. She massaged Shego's strong back with wanting fingers while the pale woman continued on, tasting Bonnie's neck and now trying to get the younger woman out of her own clothing.

Shego found herself annoyed that Bonnie was wearing more than one shirt. It was warm for the time of year, but not warm enough for Bonnie to be in a single top. Shego growled while simply clawing her love out of the irksome garments. Bonnie hissed more from surprise, but she silently admitted that move was damn sexy.

"Somebody's impatient," Bonnie teased, forcing out a smile. She was glad to know that Shego was just as eager as she was.

"You shouldn't be wearing so many clothes," Shego replied, shredding the rest of Bonnie's outfit for good measure. It was not like Bonnie would ever be wearing the wedding garbs again anyway.

The pale woman took a moment to eye the bare body that lay beneath her. Perfect, sweet tanned skin begged to be licked and devoured like cake. The dear curves of that body would put a meandering river to shame. Shego bit her lip as if she was witnessing something overwhelming and moving. Her eyes seemed stunned, as if she experienced an epiphany.

"Damn it, I've been blessed," Shego admitted in a low tone while lightly dragging her hand down her wife's side. The caress was sensual, but not really sexual. She had transcended her lust for a moment.

"Then how about you make me feel the same?" Bonnie remarked with a sexy smirk.

The warrior queen wasted no time in obliging her beloved, deciding right then and there that she would worship Bonnie that night. Her hands went to pay homage to Bonnie's chest, caressing all over her torso, including rather sensitive fleshy parts. Her tongue went across Bonnie's collar bone before making a leisurely path to the valley between Bonnie's breasts, kissing her devotion into her love's body.

The tanned woman arched into her lover's touch as she cried out for more. She felt like she was floating from the time being paid to her. She felt so adored by the woman that she loved. She prayed that the feeling lasted forever.

Shego smiled to herself, enjoying the fact that she could make Bonnie feel so obviously good. She lovingly suckled the base of the right mound while her hand affectionately occupied the other. Her free hand started a journey downward, settling on Bonnie's thigh, massaging the limb for a moment. She pulled the leg up and Bonnie wrapped her leg around Shego. Shego caressed the thigh in her grip.

"Shego," Bonnie moaned deeply as her body began unconsciously rubbing against the Queen.

From Bonnie's actions, Shego decided to move on. There were sweeter things to be had anyway. Before Bonnie even realized that her love had moved, a leg was on Shego's shoulder and a hand was fondling her rear. Bonnie screamed when hands started pulling her into Shego. The noises only got louder as the Queen drank from her beloved.

"I love it when you scream like that," Shego commented, resting her chin right below Bonnie's navel. Green hands lazily ran up and down slim thighs.

"I love it when you make me scream like that," Bonnie said while trying to catch her breath.

"I'll do it whenever you want me to then, kitten," the Queen promised, and then she kissed Bonnie's bellybutton.

"I want to give it a try," the younger woman replied while sitting up.

Shego did not argue, rolling over for her lover. Bonnie settled on top of the green-skinned monarch and started a new kiss between them. While they shared a kiss, Bonnie untied the sash that was holding up Shego's pants. She was only able to push the pants down partway, because she did not want to break the kiss. Shego tried wiggling out of the trousers while they continued kissing. When they finally pulled away, Shego kicked the pants off, losing a couple of anklets in the process.

Bonnie proceeded to give Shego the same treatment that she just got. After being with Shego so many times, she was starting to understand the delight that Shego got from sweet things. She smiled to herself as Shego began to move with her, wanting to meet her active mouth for more. Shego's body suddenly shuddered almost violently, but Bonnie continued on.

"Oh, gods," Shego muttered, hiding her face in the mattress for a few moments. Bonnie had gotten so good at that, she silently commented.

Bonnie smirked as she finally stopped and just let Shego ride out the rest of the ecstasy wave. She watched, delighting in seeing the affect that she had on the Queen. Her heart swelled with joy and she almost felt overwhelmed by it all, but that did not prevent her from continuing on.

She crawled back up Shego's body to face the Queen when the warrior calmed down. Shego wasted no time wrapping her arms around Bonnie and kissing the tanned woman with all her heart and worth. As their sweat covered bodies came into contact, they seemed to move without any commands from the women's brains, which was fine by them. Hands began to caress whatever flesh that they could while mouths remained occupied with each other and their bodies continued to move.

The one soul that they believed they shared soared to the heavens. The soul settled and smiled; the soul was content with existence.

--

Bonnie was lying on top of Shego. There was a very thin sheet covering them. Their hair was stuck to their foreheads thanks to the fact that they worked up a decent sweat. Shego was busying herself by caressing Bonnie's back and her sides. Bonnie was placing gentle, wet kisses on Shego's chin.

"So, Shego, what're you, like, my husband now?" Bonnie asked as a joke in between kisses.

Shego chuckled a bit, slightly amused. "Keep it up and I'll make your title my bitch."

"You can't do that."

"Kitten, I'm the Queen. I can do anything I want, especially since I control half of the damn world," Shego commented.

"It's not half yet," Bonnie argued smugly.

"It will be soon, hellcat. I was placed on this planet just for that," Shego stated with a confident glint in her eyes. She was born to rule the world in her opinion, especially since she was doing such a good job at conquering it.

The tanned woman looked curious for a moment. "And where do I fit in with that?"

"I think you fit in right where you are," Shego remarked while clutching a rather meaty area on the lower half of her bride.

"Well, I do like this space," Bonnie concurred, wiggling a bit as if she was trying to make herself even more comfortable than she already was.

"Stick with me, kitten, and I'll give you the world. You stay with me, help me, and I'll make your dreams come true," Shego vowed.

Bonnie was not sure what to say, especially since she was not even sure if she had any dreams. She was happy where she was in life, but she certainly would stay with Shego and help her achieve her dreams. The West was waiting for them and they would be back in the spring, but for now, they were going to enjoy their wedding night. They exchanged a kiss and started exactly what they finished only minutes earlier.

--

The end.


End file.
